Treasury Places Help Wanted Ads
Carrie Bay | 10.07.08
In an attempt to answer the first of many questions about how it would carry out the government's $700 billion rescue plan, the Treasury Department posted solicitations yesterday for financial agents to help implement the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) authorized under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA), which was signed into law by President Bush late last Friday. The Treasury is seeking private-sector firms to assist with asset management, as well as custodian, accounting, and auction management duties.

“Given the urgent need to implement the Troubled Assets Relief Program quickly, the selection process ... may involve extremely short deadlines for submitting information” and meeting for interviews, the Treasury explained in a statement.

The Department has requested that all eligible parties interested in the asset management positions and financial institutions responding to the call for portfolio infrastructure services respond by 5 p.m. (EDT) on Oct. 8, 2008. The Treasury said it expects to announce the results of its initial selections next week, but plans to align engagements with its asset acquisition schedule and project plan for the portfolio. In some cases more than one financial agent will likely be chosen, “to obtain the proper expertise in different asset types and different segments of the mortgage credit market,” the Department said in its statement. Information on the contracts awarded will be posted on the Federal Business Opportunities Web site or at the Federal Procurement Data System site.

Asset managers hired by the Treasury will be considered financial agents of the United States, and not contractors, the Department said. As financial agents, they will have a fiduciary duty and a “responsibility for protecting the interests of the United States.” The Treasury's employment guidelines did not disclose compensation for these financial agents, but did address conflicts of interest.

Before lawmakers approved the rescue plan, they outlined two oversight committees to keep an eye on TARP and those tapped to run the program. The first is the Financial Stability Board and is made up of the Federal Reserve chairman, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman, the Federal Home Finance Agency (FHFA) director, the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) secretary, and the Treasury secretary. The second is a congressional oversight panel, to which the Financial Stability Board will report, and will consist of five members appointed by party leaders within the House and Senate.

The Treasury also announced yesterday that Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. has appointed Neel Kashkari to oversee TARP and the newly created Office of Financial Stability. Kashkari, who is currently assistant secretary of International Economics and Development and a former Goldman Sachs alum of Paulson's, joined the Treasury Department in July 2006 as senior advisor to Secretary Paulson. In this role, part of Kashkari's responsibilities were to develop and execute the Department's response to the housing crisis, including the formation of the HOPE NOW Alliance, the development of the subprime fast-track loan modification plan, and the Treasury's initiative to kick-start a covered bond market in the United States.

For additional information on the Treasury's procurement authorities under EESA and the procedures it will use in the financial agent selection process, click here.

Here is the link: DS NEWS STORY

Great story. It will be very intersting to see how this all unfolds.