March 28, 2006
JS-4142

Treasury Names New Financial Attaché in Iraq

Treasury announced today that it is appointing Jeremiah S. Pam as the Department's Financial Attaché in Iraq. Pam will work closely with the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on financial, reconstruction, economic reform and institution-building issues and serve as the U.S. Treasury's representative in Iraq upon taking up the post in mid-spring.

Pam will succeed Kevin Taecker who has served as Treasury's attaché in Baghdad since July of 2004.

Pam has recently worked as a lawyer at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP in New York, where he specialized in sovereign debt restructuring and international finance. During 2003 and early 2004, Pam advised the international consortium of banks selected to restart trade finance in Iraq in conjunction with the Trade Bank of Iraq. From July 2004 through this month, Pam advised the Ministry of Finance of Iraq and the Central Bank of Iraq on all aspects of the restructuring of Iraq's approximately $130 billion in external debt. In that capacity, he played an important role in the historic debt relief agreement reached with the Paris Club of creditor countries in November 2004, in multiple successful commercial restructuring offers in 2005 and early 2006 and in the ongoing negotiations with some 30 other creditor countries of bilateral agreements providing debt relief on terms at least comparable to those of the Paris Club agreement.

During 2005, Pam was also a visiting lecturer in law at Yale Law School, where he co-taught the course on international business transactions.

Pam served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force from 1993 to 1997 and in 1997 he also served as a desk officer at the U.S. National Security Council.

Pam earned a J.D. degree and a Parker School Certificate in International and Comparative Law from Columbia University School of Law in 2000, and he received an M.A. degree in Political Science from Columbia University in 1996. Pam received an A.B. degree in Social Studies from Harvard College in 1991. Pam is a member of the Bar of the State of New York and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.