BlackRock in lead to run subprime rescue megafund: report

Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorganChase have made Blackrock the leading candidate for the job, Reuters reported citing a source familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly about the deal.

The new fund has received the blessing of U.S. treasury secretary Henry Paulson, a former Goldman Sachs CEO, who helped bring the private firms together to facilitate the creation of the fund, known as M-LEC, or master liquidity enhancement conduit.

The fund will allow financial instruments known as structured investment vehicles (SIVs) to sell assets worth more than $250 billion in an orderly fashion.

M-LEC is seen by critics as an attempt to bail out big banks which made bad bets on asset-backed securities linked to mortgage loans to borrowers with poor credit.