The Treasury Department has committed $125 billion so far to the Capital Purchase Program part of the financial rescue plan.

Neel Kashkari, the Treasury’s interim assistant secretary for financial stability, today said the department submitted its first report to Congress detailing how it will use the money to providing capital to banks to increase the amount of lending to businesses and citizens.

Kashkari spoke before the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s summit on the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

Kashkari says this is one of a number of reports expected to be sent to Congress over the next few months. He says it is part of Treasury’s goal to have an open and transparent program.

To that end, the Government Accountability Office has staff working in Treasury on the program, and the Treasury Inspector General is searching for a permanent special IG for TARP.

Kashkari also highlighted several other steps Treasury has taken so far under TARP.

In October, Treasury, the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision developed a common application for financial institutions who want to take advantage of the Capital Purchase Program.

Treasury is making more than $250 billion available under the program for financial institutions.

Kashkari also says Treasury used the General Services Administration’s supply schedule to hire five companies to provide different services, including accounting services, accounting internal controls and support, legal services for document reviews and human resources support.

Treasury hired three executives to oversee different aspects of TARP:

• James Lambright is the interim chief investment officer
• Don McLellan is the Capital Purchase Program Manager
• Howard Schweitzer is the interim chief operating officer.

“We have seen numerous signs of improvement in our markets and in the confidence in our financial institutions,” Kashkari says.

We have accomplished a great deal in a short period of time. But our work is only beginning. As I previously described, the operational scale and complexity to execute hundreds or even thousands of investments in banks across the country is extraordinary. It will take months to fully execute and fund all of these transactions. We are working around the clock to make it happen quickly while ensuring high quality execution. We intend to keep the incoming Administration fully apprised of our initiatives so that there is smooth transition as the leadership of the Treasury changes hands.

        Read more: Budget

Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.