Top Treasury official leaving post at end of July

A top Treasury Department official charged with overseeing the overhauls of the financial system and the housing market will be leaving at the end of July, a Treasury official confirmed Tuesday.

Jeffrey Goldstein, the Treasury's under secretary for domestic finance, will be leaving the position after two years to return to his family in New York, the official said.

The announcement comes at a time when several of the Treasury's efforts to address the aftermath of the financial crisis have hit several milestones. His exit will come shortly after the Dodd-Frank financial reform law reaches its one-year anniversary, on July 21, making it a natural transition time, the official said.

Goldstein played a key role in establishing the new Financial Stability Oversight Council created by Dodd-Frank. That panel, which gathers top officials from the government's financial regulators, was designed to help identify and avoid broad problems that threaten the integrity of the entire financial system.

He also was integral to the creation of the administration's white paper on housing finance, which was released in February. And his departure also comes as the Treasury is winding down several of its programs under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The White House has yet to name a successor to the position, but such a pick will come at a time when Republicans are blocking a number of administration nominees and as a number of open spots remain.

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