Tigert is likely FDIC nominee, Hove renomination expected.

WASHINGTON - Word about Washington is that the Clinton administration has finally settled on Ricki Tigert to chair the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

She may be getting the job because Ms. Tigert is the least controversial of all the candidates that have popped up during President Clinton's 10-month tenure.

Ms. Tigert, a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher law firm here, surfaced as a candidate back in April. No real objections were raised, but few people championed her candidacy either.

The administration turned to New Hampshire lobbyist Chris Gallagher. In fact, Mr. Clinton told a Granite state audience on May 24 that Mr. Gallagher was his choice to head FDIC. But harsh criticism of the FDIC Improvement Act of 1991 doomed Mr. Gallagher's nomination.

The earliest favorite for the job was Bill Bowen, a retired Arkansas banker who served as Mr. Clinton's chief of staff when he was governor. But rival banker and American Bankers Association president Bill Brandon entered the running and torpedoed Mr. Bowen.

With Ms. Tigert at the helm, Andrew C. "Skip" Hove, who has been acting FDIC chairman since August 1992, is expected to be renominated as a director. Acting Office of Thrift Supervision director Jonathan Fiechter also is expected to be renominated.

Donna Phelan, a senior counsel at the Office of Thrift Supervision, is the new banking aide for Rep. Charles E. Schumer. She replaces Courtney Ward, who is going to work for Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., as director of the securities subcommittee.

Who says examiners don't have a sense of humor? Don Coonley, chief national bank examiner, told this joke at the National Bankers Association's annual convention in Nashville:

A banker is trapped in a room with an examiner, a murderer, and an international terrorist. The banker has a gun to defend himself, but only two bullets. What does he do? Shoot the examiner twice.

Eight derivatives traders at Bank of America made more than the bank's chief executive Richard Rosenberg last year. At least that's what Rep. Jim Leach, R-Ia., claimed during a House Banking Committee hearing last week. A Bank of America spokesman refused to comment on the news, but noted the bank offers "competitive pay packages."

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