Obama Nominates Acting Treasury AML Head for Permanent Post

WASHINGTON - President Obama has tapped the acting head of the Treasury Department's anti-money-laundering and terrorism office to lead the department permanently.

Adam Szubin, who has been serving as acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes at the Treasury since February, was nominated April 16 to take the permanent position. Szubin has been serving as the head of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control since 2006. He also served as senior adviser to the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes from 2004 to 2006.

Obama said in a statement that Szubin brings "years of experience and expertise to this Administration, and I look forward to working" with him.

Szubin ascended to the position after the previous department head David Cohen was nominated to serve as deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency in January.

Cohen, an influential adviser to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, was a leading voice on AML and cybersecurity issues in the administration, crafting much of the department's approach to cybersecurity and defending the administration from allegations that it had pressured financial institutions into so-called derisking. Cohen's nomination to the CIA has not yet been confirmed by the Senate.

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