According to a senior Democratic official, familiar with President-elect Obama's transition process, New York Federal Reserve Bank President, Timothy F. Geithner, will be nominated to serve as Obama's next Treasury Secretary, to lead his government's efforts to fight the financial crisis. Geithner, 47, was always being considered as a top contender for the post.

Having worked closely with current Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson - as stricken Wall Street firms merged, collapsed and transformed into bank holding companies - Geithner has helped in the negotiation of most deals from his New York Fed office. He has also been tested under fire after handling the turmoil at Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and AIG.

Senior economist at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Chris Rupkey, called him "battle-tested" from his time working with former Treasury secretaries, Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers, and said he would "hit the ground running as he has been fighting the global credit crisis began in 2007."

Geithner's expertise on Asia may also serve him well. He has studied Japanese and Chinese, lived in India, Thailand, China, and Japan, and played a key role in the Clinton administration's efforts battling the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s.

Expressing the market reaction to the news, Christopher Low, chief economist at Memphis-based FTN Financial, said that Geithner has the right experience for the position and is viewed as steady presence during a crisis. He added: "That is exactly the kind of experience you need when you are spearheading the international response to the credit crisis and international reform of the financial market regulation."