Geithner's experience shapes him for U.S. Treasury role

By Glenn Somerville

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Timothy Geithner was on every short-list to take over the U.S. Treasury Department for the singular reason that he has been involved in virtually all major efforts to restore stability to shaky financial markets.

Still a youthful 47 years of age, Geithner has played a pivotal role from his perch as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in a series of dramatic financial rescues, including the central bank's decision to help finance the takeover of Bear Stearns & Co. in March.

NBC News and the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that President-elect Barack Obama, who takes office on January 20, has decided to tap Geithner to be the next Treasury secretary. The post requires Senate confirmation.

His unusually early selection, which was greeted enthusiastically by investors, heightens chances that he can manage a relatively seamless takeover from current Treasury chief Henry Paulson with the economy headed into a recessionary tailspin.

Geithner is no stranger to Treasury. He joined the department in 1988 and worked his way up to under secretary for international affairs from 1998 to 2001 under former Treasury secretaries Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers during the Clinton administration.

After stints at the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Monetary Fund, Geithner was named president of the New York Fed in November 2003.

As the head of the New York Fed, Geithner has served as vice chairman and a permanent voting member of the U.S. central bank's policy-setting committee. The other 11 regional Fed bank chiefs only get to vote on interest rates on a rotating basis.

Geithner's profile was already well-established in Washington and on Wall Street, but it shot higher this year as the Fed and Treasury scrambled to avert a full-blown U.S. financial meltdown as reckless U.S. subprime mortgage lending metastasized into a global crisis.