Paulson Names Adviser to Head Bailout

Updated from 5:09 a.m. EDT

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Monday named Neel Kashkari, a key adviser, to oversee the government's $700 billion program to buy distressed assets from financial institutions.

Kashkari, a Treasury assistant secretary for international affairs and a former Goldman Sachs (GS Quote) banker, was named interim head of Treasury's new Office of Financial Stability. Kashkari will oversee Treasury's effort to buy bad loans and other distressed securities clogging the books of financial institutions.

Kashkari will oversee some key decisions on how the program operates. While Congress gave Treasury the authority to start buying assets, many choices remain, such as which asset managers to hire, which securities to purchase and how to purchase them....