We want to restore the tradition of Sinbad the sailor," says an enthusiastic undersecretary for tourism, Maitha Bint Saif al-Mahrouqi.
Giuseppe Castiglione, undersecretary for agriculture, has denied being involved in the "Mafia Capitale" scandal, after investigations revealed that criminal organisations had infiltrated the state-run immigration system.
State undersecretary for health, Gábor Zombor, named the abolition of pocket payments as a necessary "first step in putting the sector in order" in his maiden speech.
David Bagley, who headed compliance at HSBC, used his testimony to announce he was stepping down.HSBC's new chief legal officer is Stuart Levey, previously the Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
"It is a wake-up call," says Peter Fisher, undersecretary of the Treasury and the Treasury's representative to the PBGC.Many experts think that the agency's burden has grown largely because companies lack incentives to fund their pension schemes adequately.
The front-runner, though, is James Clapper, the Pentagon's undersecretary for intelligence.
Mr Obama could address that weakness by naming a deputy with that background, such as David Lipton, currently the number two at the International Monetary Fund; Michael Froman, a White House adviser; or Lael Brainard, currently the undersecretary for international affairs.Mr Lew has one big advantage Mr Geithner lacked four years ago: a growing economy.
By contrast, Philip Gordon, America's undersecretary of state for Europe, had called Britain's EU membership "essential and critical to the United States".
Gentle nudging and currying favour aren't areas in which Mr Summers is likely to excel.An important exception is the Treasury's role in foreign policy, where Mr Summers has already played a pivotal role as deputy secretary and before that as undersecretary for international affairs.
What is as unclear as ever, however, is exactly how and how handsomely, in terms of cash the Swiss, and others, can be made to make amends.The 200-page report, drawing on sources pulled together by 11 different American government agencies over seven months under the eye of Stuart Eizenstat, President Clinton's undersecretary of commerce, is the most comprehensive to date.
Firms on both sides of the border "can do business and know that the rules of the game will be respected," says Beatriz Leycegui, Mexico's undersecretary of trade.Faster and cheaper border crossings will give Mexico's exporters an edge in America, where they have faced stiff competition from China in the past decade.
