If confirmed, Norton – who from 2007 to 2009 was deputy assistant Treasury secretary for financial institutions policy – would fill the independent FDIC board seat now occupied by Thomas Curry. Curry is awaiting confirmation to be comptroller of the currency, which would allow him to stay on the FDIC board.
But although the announcement means the Obama administration has in theory rounded out its board choices, the prospects for all five seats remain unclear amid fallout from the hiring of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray.
Cordray, who under the Dodd-Frank Act assumes an FDIC board seat, was installed in January through a recess appointment, a move that Republicans strongly protested. The GOP’s objections to Cordray’s hiring essentially stalled any Senate action on the other pending FDIC nominees. Those include Curry; Martin Gruenberg, the agency’s acting chairman and the nominee for the permanent job; and former Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City chief Thomas Hoenig, who is the nominee for FDIC vice chairman.
Currently an executive director at JPMorgan Securities LLC, Norton was likely recommended for the FDIC post by senior Republican senators. Under the rules of FDIC board appointments, the president’s party can select three of the board’s five seats. GOP lawmakers then submit names for the other two. Last year, senior Republicans had recommended Hoenig to be considered for the vice chairman’s post.
In addition to helping develop Treasury policy on financial institutions during the crisis, Norton also oversaw the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program. Before working at Treasury, he was a legislative aide on financial services issues to Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif.
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