Washington People: Sen. D'Amato Talks Tough On Insurance Legislation

Subtlety is not one of Senate Banking Committee Chairman Alfonse M. D'Amato's stronger traits.

At a hearing last week, the New York Republican pointedly reminded his colleagues of their failure to approve his private mortgage insurance bill. He threatened to attach his bill to the next piece of legislation acted on by the Senate.

"We can do it the nice way or a way that some of my colleagues might not enjoy," Sen. D'Amato warned. "If we don't get appropriate bipartisan cooperation I might introduce a bill that replicates the House version."

Sen. D'Amato's bill would let borrowers cancel private mortgage insurance when they have paid off 20% of the loan's original value. The House version would automatically end the insurance once a consumer reaches the 20% threshold.

"No. No. No." That was Rep. Maxine Waters' vote on financial reform legislation approved by the House Banking Committee last month.

"I voted ag-ainst final passage ... because I think we are moving too quickly," the California Democrat explained. "In our haste to 'modernize,' I fear that we are making changes in the financial landscape that we will later regret."

Rep. Waters' decision to vote against the bill was surprising because she scored big during the committee's four days of work on the bill. Rep. Waters accomplished what consumer-minded lawmakers have repeatedly, and unsuccessfully, attempted: approval of an amendment requiring banks to offer low-cost checking accounts.

"The inclusion of provisions to protect consumers, like the one I offered ... , while positive do not satisfy all my concerns," she noted.

One big concern is what would happen to the host of California-based thrifts, which would be required to convert to national bank charters under the bill. "Savings and loans have located and stayed in low-income communities, like my own, when many other traditional banks would not," Rep. Waters said when asked about her vote.

Rep. Waters also said not enough is known about the impact mixing banking and commerce would have on consumers. "This bill is bad for consumers and bad for America."

Add another name to the list of candidates for Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chairman: Donna A. Tanoue, commissioner of financial institutions in Hawaii from 1982-87.

Ms. Tanoue, now a partner at the law firm Goodsill, Anderson, Quinn & Stifel, flew in from Honolulu last week to interview with Treasury Department officials, sources said. She could not be reached for comment, but her voice mail message confirmed she was visiting the mainland July 7- 11.

Separately, FDIC staffers have been quietly joking about what it would be like to have two litigants sitting together at the boardroom table.

Catherine A. Ghiglieri, Texas banking commissioner and another candidate for FDIC chairman, has gone to court twice against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency over the 30-mile branching rule. Eugene A. Ludwig, the comptroller of the currency, sits on the five-member FDIC board.

Todd J. Dorny has joined the staff of the Bankers Roundtable, where he will focus on financial modernization legislation.

Mr. Dorny, 31, was previously a banking aide for Sen. Robert Bennett, R- Utah. A congressional staffer since 1993, he also handled banking issues for Rep. Sue Kelly, R-N.Y.

Mr. Dorny said he decided to leave Capitol Hill "to get a feel for the other side of issues." He was attracted to the Roundtable post because the big-bank trade group represents a small body of members and is "more likely to take unified positions" on issues than other industry associations.

Former Chief National Bank Examiner Jimmy F. Barton has joined the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight as a consultant.

Mr. Barton retired from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency May 2. At the housing agency he will work on financial safety and soundness issues regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

KPMG Peat Marwick is holding a shindig tomorrow to welcome two former supervisors to its national regulatory practice.

Douglas Henderson, former securities regulator and insurance company executive, will anchor a new group at the consulting firm catering to clients with broker dealers. Mr. Henderson spent 11 years with the National Association of Securities Dealers, rising to senior vice president in charge of the New York district. After NASD, he was chief compliance officer at Prudential Insurance Co.

Neal L. Peterson, Federal Reserve Board general counsel from 1978-1981, abandoned private practice a couple months ago to help the firm's clients decipher banking laws and regulations.

Steven M. Roberts, a veteran of the Fed and Capitol Hill, heads KPMG Peat Marwick's 45-person regulatory team.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER