Some days the wind blows hot, other days it is cold. Some days the wind is hurricane force, others it s gentle breeze. Some days it blows out of the north, others days it blows from another point of the compass.
Recently the FDIC announced the hiring of additional key leadership staff for the Division of Depositor and Consumer Protection (DCP). The FDIC Board of Directors approved the establishment of the new organizations in August, 2010 to enhance the Corporation’s ability to carry out its new and enhanced responsibilities under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. DCP will provide greater focus and visibility to the Corporation’s depositor and consumer protection programs.
So what’s the big deal? Obviously the FDIC is taking compliance issues seriously – AGAIN. Decades ago the FDIC handle compliance as a subset of safety and soundness. Then they created a separate Division of Compliance and Consumer Affairs. Then they moved compliance back to a subset of safety and soundness. Then the new Division of Depositor and Consumer Protection appears.
I wish I could tell you this is all a bad joke. But when the FDIC takes compliance seriously, they take it very seriously. And based on the people placed in charge of the new Division they are serious this time. The new people include a 32 year FDIC veteran who has worked compliance in every level of the organization, through good times and bad; a 23 year veteran of Congress; and a consumer advocacy veteran. The FDIC has assembled a very formidable team.
But don’t worry, the wind will shift again. The amazing team the FDIC has assembled will be broken up and will float away with the wind.
