Herb Allison expected to be named TARP czar

Fannie Mae CEO Herb Allison is expected to be named by the Obama administration to head the government's $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, a published report said. President Barack Obama could announce his intention to nominate Allison as assistant secretary for the Office of Financial Stability as early as this week, according to Tuesday's edition of The Wall Street Journal. Treasury spokesman Andrew Williams told The Associated Press he could not confirm the report. Allison, 65 years old, is the former chairman of investment company TIAA-CREF and served as president and chief operating officer at Merrill Lynch. He agreed to run Fannie Mae in September after the U.S. took over it and Freddie Mac. Allison would replace Neel Kashkari, who was appointed by the Bush administration and was asked by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to stay on until a replacement was found. If Allison is appointed, both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be without chief executives. David Moffett, Freddie Mac's CEO, resigned in March. Allison's name has been on the short list to head TARP from the beginning as the government looked for someone to run the program, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. His selection is complicated by several factors, including the need to replace him at Fannie, the Journal added.