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The Financial Stability Oversight Council was created to identify systemic risks and act to disarm them. But the first five months of the council's existence have been underwhelming.
December 29 -
Dozens of small banks in California remain under enforcement actions, leading some industry observers to predict an impending wave of regulator-led consolidation.
January 17
William S. Haraf, the commissioner of California's Department of Financial Institutions, has resigned from the post, effective March 16.
The department said in a notice on its web site on Monday that "transition arrangements for these assignments are under preparation." The statement did not specify why Haraf was leaving. A replacement, who will be appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown, also was not named.
"It has been an honor to work with California's dynamic financial marketplace and serve two governors as California's Commissioner of Financial Institutions," Haraf said in the statement.
As commissioner, Haraf serves as the sole state bank regulatory representative on the Financial Stability Oversight Council established by the Dodd-Frank Act. He is also chairman-elect of the Board of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors.
Prior to being appointed as commissioner by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in April 2008, Haraf was an independent consultant with the Promontory Financial Group. He also was previously a managing director and chief of staff at Banc of America Securities and before that, a senior vice president of strategic policy development and planning for Bank of America Corp.
Before joining Bank of America, Haraf was the director of policy analysis with Citicorp in Washington, D.C. He also spent time at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research in Washington, D.C.
