BlackRock Wears Multiple Hats

By LIZ RAPPAPORT and SUSANNE CRAIG,

Laurence Fink has parlayed a lifetime of contacts and computer models into a powerful, controversial role for his firm in the financial crisis.

The U.S. has selected BlackRock Inc., a money manager and risk-advisory firm, to manage mortgage assets once owned by Bear Stearns Cos. and American International Group Inc. Separately, the firm also has been tapped to analyze hard-to-price assets of Freddie Mac and Morgan Stanley, among other financial institutions in the crisis.

Now, the Treasury Department has preliminarily granted BlackRock a coveted second-round interview to become one of a few money managers to buy toxic assets from U.S. banks, using taxpayer money, people familiar with the matter say. Mr. Fink aims to raise as much as $7 billion to invest through the program, which could yield his firm millions of dollars in fees. A Treasury spokesman says it is in negotiations to prequalify several fund managers BlackRock helped shape the government's toxic-asset plan, which critics have said helps vulture investors buy assets on the cheap while exposing taxpayers to the bulk of losses if the investments sour. Meantime, BlackRock continues to manage $132 billion in mortgage assets, some of which have defaulted.

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