Obama taps three for Treasury posts

WASHINGTON, March 24 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama announced his intention to nominate candidates for three of the four top posts in the Treasury Department.

Obama said he would nominate Neal Wolin to be deputy secretary of the Treasury and Lael Brainard to be undersecretary of the Treasury for International Affairs, the White House said in a news release.

The president said Stuart A. Levey would remain as the undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

The nominations announced Tuesday fill three of the four most senior Treasury Department positions. Wolin's and Brainard's nominations require Senate confirmation; Levey's doesn't.

Wolin was general counsel at the Treasury Department from 1999-2001 and was deputy general counsel from 1995-99. He also was part of the Obama White House as deputy counsel economic policy and deputy assistant to the president.

Brainard is vice president and founding director of Brookings Institution's global economy and development program. During the Clinton administration, Brainard was a deputy national economic adviser and deputy assistant to the president for international economics .

Levey was confirmed by the Senate in 2004 as the first undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.