By Tim Ahmann,Reuters
Obama is considering a nationalized bank
The incoming Obama administration is considering setting up a government-run bank to acquire bad assets clogging the financial system,a person familiar with the Obama team’s thinking said on Saturday.
The U.S. Federal Reserve,Treasury and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp have been in talks about ways to ease a banking crisis that is once again deepening —and a government-run “aggregator bank”is among the options.
Outgoing Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair both said on Friday a government bank was one of a number of ideas U.S. regulators had been discussing.
The source said advisers to President-elect Barack Obama,who takes office on Tuesday,were also considering the idea of an aggregator bank among a range of options that could be pursued.
David Axelrod,a top adviser to Obama,told Reuters the new administration would have something to say about a fresh approach to the financial crisis in “the next few days.”