Neel Kashkari Interim Head of US Treasury’s New Office of Financial Stability

"The front page of NYTimes.com showing one of the most influential South Asian in America at this moment. In the purple tie, two over from Secretary Paulson is Neel Kashkari, a Special Advisor to the Secretary, at the Assistant Secretary level and was nominated by President Bush in November 2007"

Neel Kashkari, an Indian American has been appointed as the Interim Head of US Treasury’s New Office of Financial Stability. Earlier he was serving as the US Treasury’s Assistant Secretary for International Affairs. The Bush administration decided to pick a key Treasury Department official, to be the interim head of its $700 billion rescue effort for financial institutions. The new office was created by the emergency legislation enacted last week to fund the largest government bailout in history.

The 35-year-old Kashkari is a former Goldman Sachs Inc. banker, the investment giant once headed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. Neel Kashkari was Senior Advisor to Henry M. Paulson, Jr. He provided counsel to the Secretary on key policy matters.

Prior to joining the Treasury Department, Kashkari was a Vice President at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in San Francisco, where he led Goldman’s IT Security Investment Banking practice, advising public and private companies on mergers and acquisitions and financial transactions. Prior to his career in finance, Kashkari was a R&D Principal Investigator at TRW in Redondo Beach, California where he developed technology for NASA space science missions such as the James Webb Space Telescope.

Originally from Stow, Ohio, Mr. Kashkari graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Engineering. He also received an M.B.A. in Finance from the Wharton School. Kashkari and his wife Minal maintain residences in Maryland and California. Last month, the front page of NYTimes.com carried the picture of Kashkari along with his Boss, Paulson. Kashkari has been described as one of the most influential South Asians in America at this moment.

During the Senate hearing, as the Nominee for Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs, while presenting his credentials before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Kashkari said, "Please allow me to express my gratitude to the President and to Secretary Paulson for the confidence and trust that they have shown in me, and I would also like to thank you for your consideration of my nomination. I wish to also thank my wife Minal – who is here today – for her continuous support of my career and my public service."

"If confirmed, I look forward to working closely with this committee and your colleagues in the United States Senate as well as the US House of Representatives to advance US economic interests at home and abroad," he added.

While describing his experience and how it has prepared him for the position to which he was nominated, Kishkari had this to say: "In my role as Senior Advisor to Secretary Paulson, I have been responsible for developing and executing international and domestic policies for the Department to foster a more conducive investment climate for the US, as well as to support global economic growth. Prior to my government service, I worked as an investment banker, where I executed financial and strategic transactions that have prepared me for the position to which I have been nominated."

He went on to say that "Since joining the Treasury Department in July 2006, I have led several policy initiatives for the Department, including: Promoting Indian financial sector liberalization and free trade through strengthened economic engagement and increased infrastructure investment; Enhancing U.S. energy security by implementing policies that will, over time, reduce our exposure to the global oil market by encouraging the development of alternative fuels and by improving the efficiency of our auto fleet; Spearheading our response to the housing crisis by mobilizing the private sector to avoid preventable foreclosures and working to ensure the flow of capital into the housing market, enabling the necessary housing correction to move forward as quickly as possible, and minimizing spillover from housing to the rest of the real economy."

The young Indian American said, "Prior to joining Treasury, I was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs where I advised the US and international companies on both debt and equity financings and global mergers and acquisitions. As an advisor to management teams and boards of directors, I gained firsthand insight into the challenges that the US companies face as they strive to access markets abroad while also competing with global players here at home. This transactional experience will be particularly relevant to helping implement our critically important investment security policy through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). I will work hard to ensure that the US national security is protected, while encouraging foreign investment in the US" Prior to joining the financial services industry, he strengthened his analytical skills as an aerospace engineer, developing technology for future NASA space science missions such as the James Webb Space Telescope, the replacement to Hubble, which is scheduled to launch in 2013. "If confirmed, I look forward to working with the Administration, Congress, and the staff at the Department of the Treasury to promote global economic growth, financial market stability and open markets for US goods and services," Kishkari told the Senate committee members. And soon he was approved and started working in Treasury Department.

The Indian American community had lauded his elevation to the current position when it came up Senate approval early this year. "Neel Kashkari is eminently qualified to serve as an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury and his nomination and Senate confirmation is historic," said Dino Teppara, spokesman for the IARC. "His education, public service and private sector experience will serve him well in this new capacity." Since 2006, Kashkari has served as Senior Advisor to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. "President Bush was the first President to appoint an Indian American with the rank of Ambassador, the first to name an Indian American to the federal bench and he has appointed more Indian Americans in his Administration than any other President in history," said Teppara. "The nomination and confirmation of Secretary Kashkari demonstrates that President Bush continues to be a true friend of Indian Americans."

BY VRN