Office of Thrift Supervision Director John Reich told the American Bankers Association on Monday that he will step down from his post "sooner rather than later."
Mr. Reich, who has led the OTS since August 2005, said his biggest regret at the agency was failing to curb no- and low-documentation loans.
"As a former banker raised believing in the fundamental five C's of credit and fully documented loan files, the notion of low- and no-doc loans has been abhorrent to me," he said at the ABA's annual convention in San Francisco.
"I regret that I and my colleagues did not act to change these practices, which frankly had been in place for a number of years and seemed to present no material issues until the bottom of the housing market fell out," Mr. Reich said. "Nevertheless, it's what I have the most personal regret about."
He acknowledged that Congress is likely to revisit the makeup of the regulatory system next year, and he said he hopes the new framework will maintain a division between small and large banks.
"I'm resistant personally to one-size-fits-all regulation," Mr. Reich said.
