FDIC chief remains mum about potential future at agency

WASHINGTON — In what was likely his last earnings presentation on the banking industry Tuesday, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg sidestepped a question about his potentially having a future leadership role at the agency.

The Trump administration's nominee to succeed Gruenberg, Jelena McWilliams, could be confirmed as early as this week. But according to a recent report by Politico, the current chairman — who has served on the FDIC board in various capacities since 2005 — is Democrats' choice to serve as vice chairman, one of two seats on the five-member board selected by the opposition party.

“I know there was a press report in regard to that, but candidly I’m not in a position to comment on press reports,” Gruenberg said at a briefing for the release of the FDIC's Quarterly Banking Profile.

FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg
Martin Gruenberg, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), said that the new proposed Community Reinvestment Act rule would make CRA exams more difficult for some banks

Gruenberg previously served as the agency's vice chairman before taking the helm in 2011. The FDIC's former No. 2, Thomas Hoenig, stepped down last month.

Gruenberg's term as chairman expired in November, but his term as a member of the agency's board does not expire until the end of this year.

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