WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US Treasury on Monday launched the first stage of its bank rescue plan, requesting bids for managers of troubled mortgages and mortgage-backed securities.
"The Treasury Department posted today three solicitations for financial agents to provide services that are needed for the effective implementation of the Troubled Asset Relief Program authorized under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act" enacted on Friday, the department said in a statement.
One notice is for management of home mortgages, another for the management of home loans that could be bought from troubled banks, and a third for management of soured mortgage-related securities that the government plans to buy from ailing banks.
In a sign of the urgency of the credit crisis, the Treasury said that financial institutions wanting to bid for the contracts must submit a response by Wednesday at 5:00 pm (2100 GMT).
A 700-billion-dollar financial bailout package sought by the Treasury was signed into law Friday by President George W. Bush. The government plans to buy up toxic mortgage-related assets from banks mired in the worst real-estate crisis in decades.
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