WASHINGTON -- Mark P. Hurley, the Office of Thrift Supervision's director of resolutions, has resigned to rejoin Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Mr. Hurley, 33, is leaving because he intended to work only two years at the agency, he said in an interview. His last day is Aug. 11, and he will move to New York to work on bank, thrift, and financial institution mergers with Goldman.
He worked at the Wall Street investment bank before being recruited by OTS Director T. Timothy Ryan in 1990. Mr. Hurley said that after he tested the job market in recent months, Goldman made the best of several offers he received.
"I'm sort of picking up where I left off," said Mr. Hurley.
Crowd Turned Ugly
He recalls that times were "wild and woolly" when he first arrived in Washington. At one meeting, he said, a group of thrift representatives got so angry that they stood on their chairs and yelled at Mr. Ryan.
"To me, this has been an incredible learning experience," said Mr. Hurley, who spent about 60% of his time on the road.
He was responsible for monitoring the 10 most troubled savings and loans, and he headed the accelerated resolution program, in which the agency attempted to preserve sick thrifts' value by selling them before they were seized.
A Hand in HomeFed Seizure
Mr. Hurley also worked on several special projects. He helped to negotiate the sale of millions of dollars in frozen deposits at Rhode Island credit unions to Northeast Savings in Hartford.
He was involved in the sale of $750 million worth of golf courses and resort hotels owned by the failed Oak Tree Savings in New Orleans. And he took part in the planning for the July 6 seizure of HomeFed Bank of San Diego.
A West Point graduate, the brash investment banker has his share of fans and critics.
"He was bright and he cut through the chaff," said Edward Harshfield, who was an interim president and chief executive of the failed Columbia Savings and Loan of Beverly Hills, Calif.
"He yells at you in meetings," said one person who dealt with Mr. Hurley on several occasions. "Nobody is interested in talking to a kid who thinks he knows everything financial about the world."
Mr. Hurley said his job wasn't easy, and his decisions often meant wiping out investors and putting people out of jobs.
"This is not the kind of work where they have a parade or build statues," he said. "We are just trying to keep the cost of this financial disaster to a minimum. We are the guys who follow the elephants in the parade with the shovels."
