Treasury to name financial asset managers soon

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department expects to name asset managers for its $700 billion financial rescue plan within days and is working "around the clock" to thaw credit markets, the program's new chief said on Monday,

The Treasury has sought proposals from firms that have at least $100 billion of fixed-income assets under management, said Neel Kashkari, the Treasury's interim assistant secretary for financial stability.

"Treasury is implementing its new authorities with one simple goal -- to restore capital flows to the consumers and businesses that form the core of our economy. Achieving this goal will require multiple tools to help financial institutions remove illiquid assets from their balance sheets and attract both private and public capital," Kashkari said in prepared remarks to the International Institute of Bankers.

Kashkari said the program, which allows the Treasury to buy direct equity in banks as well purchasing mortgage securities and whole mortgage loans, was kept flexible "because the one constant throughout the credit crisis has been its unpredictability."

Nonetheless, he expressed confidence that the program would help the United States overcome its economic challenges.

Since Congress approved the massive rescue bill 10 days ago, the Treasury has appointed an internal management team and formed seven policy teams to manage different areas of the program: mortgage-backed securities purchases, whole loan purchases, asset insurance, home ownership preservation, executive compensation and compliance.

Reuben Jeffrey, undersecretary of state for economic affairs and the former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has been appointed to serve as interim chief investment officer. Tom Bloom, chief financial officer for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, will serve as the program's CFO.

The Treasury on Saturday hired Ennis Knupp as a consultant to help it evaluate asset management proposals. The department received more than 100 submissions each for managing securities and for managing whole loans and will make selections within the next few days, Kashkari said.

He said the Treasury was moving as quickly as possible to implement the program with "high quality execution."

"This is Secretary Paulson's highest priority and we are committed to working around the clock to make it happen," Kashkari said.

(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Tom Hals)