Obama Nominates David Cohen As Economic Sanctions Point Man

President Barack Obama has nominated David S. Cohen to replace Stuart Levey to lead the administration's financial wars on Iran, North Korea and al Qaeda, the White House said Monday.

Cohen, who works as an assistant at the Treasury Department on terrorist financing, will be taking on the new role just as the Obama administration is likely to ramp up economic sanctions against Iran.

Levey, who was a senior administration official under former President George W. Bush, told The Wall Street Journal he was taking time off before deciding what he would do next. The administration has said Levey's departure wouldn't affect U.S. policy.

Cohen, a former partner in the law firm WilmerHale, currently formulates and coordinates the counterterrorist financing and antimoney laundering efforts for the Treasury Department. He is taking on the new role just as global talks broke down in Turkey over the weekend regarding Iran's nuclear program. Cohen is a graduate of Yale Law School and Cornell University.

-By Jared A. Favole, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9256; jared.favole@ dowjones.com

Source: NASDAQ