The New York Times reports that the Department of the Treasury has completed two deals on Wednesday to buy up troubled assets from investment firms. The Treasury selected nine firms and so far, those approved Wednesday are the only ones finalized.

The program, which got off to a slow start,  requires all of the firms to raise $500 million to $1 billion in private contributions before they can qualify for a matched subsidy and a loan for the total sum from the Department of the Treasury. The Treasury reports that several of the other firms will be following suit in the weeks ahead, having almost completed the required fundraising.

Treasury Officials said the other firms had all made good progress in raising at leas $500 million in private capital, and that several were in the process of signing final agreements.

Under the program, each money-management firm has to raise at least $500 million in private equity capital, and then provide a loan to double the total amount of working capital for each partnership.

Among the investment firms that the Treasury selected: Invesco, the TWC Group, Alliance-Bernstein, BlackRock, Oaktree Capital Management, and Wellington Management.