Click to play videoWashington: Neel Kashkari is armed with a $700 billion dollar line of credit. His mission: to start buying bad debt.
US Treasury official Neel Kashkari, 35, has been named to spearhead the Wall Street rescue plan. Kashkari who has been working over the last year on mortgage and foreclosure issues, including contingency planning, if banks are crippled by bad mortgages.
Kashkari, who is of Indian origin, is a former vice president of investment bank Goldman Sachs. That makes him the third top administration official to come from that Wall Street firm alongside his boss Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and White House Chief of Staff josh bolten.
Some analysts say the number of Goldman alums involved raises the possibility of a conflict of interest, but a White House spokesperson said Paulson is simply trying to bring in the best talent he can. Others say the bailout team will need people with Wall Street expertise.
"They have to be people that understand the heart and soul of the instruments concerned. Secondly are they able to try and imply a value that the market might think is acceptable. If you don't have that then really we are just shooting in the dark," said Stephen Pope, chief global market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald Europe.
And the treasury department won't handle all the buying itself—private firms would also play a role. "We're looking at a number of asset managers with good experience, very good experience and expertise, from the private sector," says Paulson.
But here too is the potential for conflict of interest, as some of the best asset managers who would be helping the government, also work for Wall Street clients.
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