Herbert M. Allison Jr.: answers White House call. File photoPresident Barack Obama today nominated Westporter Herbert M. Allison Jr. to oversee the Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relief Program.
If confirmed by the Senate, the Greens Farms resident would oversee the $700 billion financial rescue fund aimed at restoring rattled markets.
Allison, 65, has been chief executive of Fannie Mae since it was seized by the government in September. He would succeed Neel T. Kashkari and become Treasury assistant secretary for financial stability.
In that role, Allison will be charged with overseeing several federal programs meant to improve the availability of credit, aid major automakers and bolster the housing market.
Allison was named chief executive of Fannie Mae in September as the housing market soured and pushed the company and its sibling agency, Freddie Mac, to the brink of collapse.
He had spent more than 25 years with the investment bank Merrill Lynch before becoming chairman and chief executive of the pension fund giant TIAA-CREF.
After six years as the head of TIAA-CREF, Allison retired in 2008 and was asked by the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., to become conservator of Fannie Mae, the nation’s largest source of housing finance.
He has told Fannie Mae colleagues that his long experience and personal wealth gave him valuable independence when it came to managing the agency.
