Illustrating his penchant for particulars, Bob Storch knows his due date.
The lead cipher for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., at age 42, can tell you he was supposed to be born Dec. 7. He was two days early.
That kind of attention to detail comes in handy in his job, which is of more than passing importance to bankers. Mr. Storch is the regulator who helps decide what counts in regulatory capital. FOr example, he is currently figuring whether to include in Tier 1 capital the up realized gains and losses produced by new mark-to-market accounting standards.
Financial Accounting Standard 115 has banks in a dither because if it is applied to regulatory capital, Tier 1 will ricochet as interest rates rise or fail.
While a final answer is still in the works, Mr. Storch hinted that the accounting standard will be incorporated into regulatory reporting but not regulatory capital. He is also working on FAS 114, which governs loan-loss reserves, and FAS 109, which covers the amount of deferred tax assets that can count toward capital.
Mr. Storch started working at the agency in 1973 after graduating from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa. He was an examiner in the Philadelphia office until 1979. He took two school years off years off from work to go to school? to earned an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania. Next he moved to the FDIC's Baltimore office.
In 1981, Mr. Storch went to Washington as a financial analyst in the registration and disclosure section, which is the FDIC's version of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
After a year, he transferred to the agency's planning and program development' section as an examination specialist, where he helped set examination policies. Mr. Storch moved up to his current job in 1988.
There aren't many people more familiar with bank capital rules. Mr. Storch wrote the regulations that first formalized capital standards in the mid-1980s. He's also an expert on the call report, which he helped overhaul in the early 1980s.
Admitting Acknowledging that the quarterly reports have quadrupled in size since then, Mr. Storch sympathizes with bankers who think the government asks for too much information.
Robert F. Storch
Chief, accounting section
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
1776 F St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20429
202-898-8906
