BlackRock Gains Prominence in Wake of Bear Stearns Collapse

BlackRock, the largest publicly traded asset management firm, is making big bucks in the troubled credit markets, currently responsible for managing $30 billion of hard-to-sell assets of Bear Stearns and another $22 billion from UBS.  Laurence D. Fink, BlackRock's CEO, began his career over 20 years ago at First Boston, working on mortgage bonds.  While Rep. Henry Waxman, head of the House Oversight Committee, has questioned the New York Federal Reserve about BlackRock's selection to manage the Bear assets without a competitive bidding process, others defend it because of the need to move swiftly upon Bear Stearn's collapse.  NYTimes, BlackRock Is Fix-It Firm to Manage Risky Assets of Others in Distress.