WASHINGTON -
The Bush administration announced it plans to nominate Michael Fryzel, a Chicago attorney and former director of the Illinois Department of Financial Institutions, as chairman of the NCUA Board.
Fryzel, who has a long background in credit unions, would succeed current NCUA Chairman JoAnn Johnson, whose six-year term on the three-member NCUA Board expired in August.
Fryzel, a partner in the Chicago firm of Kane, Obbish, Propes & Garippo, was promoted to the head of the Illinois DFI, which regulates state chartered credit unions, in 1982, succeeding Ed Callahan when Callahan went to Washington to chair the NCUA Board.
He has been deeply involved in credit unions since leaving the DFI, serving on the Illinois Credit Union Advisory Board for the last 17 years and representing numerous credit unions in his legal practice. He was also in the running for the NCUA Board seat eventually given to Rodney Hood three years ago.
"I don't have any doubts that he's a credit union person at heart," said Dan Plauda, president of the Illinois CU League, who has known Fryzel and worked with him for more than 25 years. He noted that Fryzel not only headed the DFI and represented the Midwest Association of CUs (a state trade association that merged into the Illinois League in 2005), but has also worked with many CUs as their legal counsel.
"He's been around as a regulator or some other capacity for many years," said Plauda.
Fryzel thanked President Bush last week and said he is excited about the prospects of going to NCUA. "I have a strong belief in the credit union movement and I have since I regulated them for the Department (of Financial Institutions)," he said.
The prospects of the Republican Fryzel being confirmed by the Senate, however, are clouded, because with the presidential elections looming the Democrats, who control the Senate, may chose to delay a vote in hopes that a Democrat will win the White House next year and appoint a member of the same party to head NCUA.
The make-up of the NCUA Board is supposed to be bipartisan, with two members and the chairman usually coming from one party and the third member from the other major party. Of course, one or more members could be independents. The current Board has two Republicans, Johnson and Hood, and one Democrat, Gigi Hyland.
Fryzel said he looks forward to the confirmation process but would not speculate on the chances of passing muster with the Senate.
Fryzel, 63, has been active in Republican politics in Illinois for many years and has close ties with former Republican Gov. James Thompson, who appointed him to head the DFI.
"He's got a lot of Republican contacts in the state," said Plauda, explaining his possible attraction to the Bush administration.
Fryzel is a graduate of the University of Chicago and the Loyola University of Chicago School of Law.
Johnson, who was an Iowa state senator and chairman of the state's Bush/Cheney campaign, was appointed to the NCUA Board in 2002, then designated chairman in 2004, succeeding Dennis Dollar. (c) 2007 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com
