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Fannie Mae CEO Picked as Bailout Chief

Former Merrill Lynch prez to overhaul $700B TARP program

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 18, 2009 6:45 AM CDT

(Newser) – Wall Street veteran and Fannie Mae CEO Herb Allison has been nominated to oversee the Treasury's $700 billion bank rescue, Bloomberg reports. If confirmed by Congress—where he's likely to be grilled on his defending of bonuses at Fannie—Allison will be tasked with deploying the second phase of the TARP program to take bad assets off the hands of troubled banks.

"Since taking over at Fannie Mae, Allison has shown that he can work in a glass house while a constant storm is raging outside,” a Washington communications consultant and former congressional aide tells Bloomberg. “That ability will serve him well as he steps in to administer TARP.” Fannie Mae's chief operating officer, Michael Williams, is expected to take the reins after Allison departs.

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Frmer vice chairman of Merrill Lynch and Fannie Mae CEO Herbert M. Allison has been picked to head the $700 billion TARP program. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, file)

Fannie Mae President and Chief Executive Officer Herbert Allison, Jr. testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington in this September 2008 file photo. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf )

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Designing the next leg of TARP proceeds to co-invest in legacy assets will require a deft touch and market knowledge to implement properly. This fits Allison’s deep market experience well.
- Atlanta attorney Brian Olasov

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Fannie Mae CEO Picked as Bailout Chief