WASHINGTON - As Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Don Powell prepares to depart the agency today, the search for his successor continues to heat up.
Industry sources said the candidates include Diana Taylor, the superintendent of the New York State Banking Department, and Jo Ann Barefoot, an Ohio bank consultant.
The White House announced Nov. 1 that Mr. Powell would leave the FDIC to coordinate the federal government's Gulf Coast rebuilding efforts, but it has remained silent on a succession plan. A White House spokesman did not return a call for comment.
Both Ms. Taylor and Ms. Barefoot have extensive experience with financial services matters.
Though her jurisdiction is confined to New York, Ms. Taylor is well known in Washington for her outspoken criticism of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's federal preemption policy, which she has argued has weakened state regulators' ability to enforce consumer protection laws. Lately, however, she has waved a white flag of sorts and said it is time to move on.
"This is the situation - you figure out how to make the best of it and hope things will settle out so balance is restored," she said in July.
The Republican superintendent has also testified on Capitol Hill about the need for more coordination among state and federal agencies on anti-money-laundering enforcement.
But Neil Milner, the president and chief executive of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, said he did not believe Ms. Taylor would want the job of FDIC chairman.
"She would be very good" at the FDIC, Mr. Milner said. "She's very bright, articulate, and she's done a great job in New York. It wouldn't disappoint me, but I don't think that she'd do it."
A spokeswoman for Ms. Taylor would not say whether the superintendent is interested in the post, or if she had been approached by the White House to lead the FDIC.
Ms. Barefoot would also come from outside the Beltway. She currently heads her own Columbus, Ohio, consulting firm, which advises banks and other financial institutions on management issues.
Before moving to Columbus she did stints at the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Federal Housing Administration, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, and the Senate Banking Committee.
Ms. Barefoot said Monday that she "would be very flattered to be considered," but she would not comment further.
Even if a nomination is announced soon, it is uncertain how long the appointment process could take. The Senate Banking Committee has turned its attention to Ben Bernanke's nomination to succeed Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan when his term expires at the end of January. Two other open seats at the Fed could also be filled soon.
The White House could choose another way to fill the FDIC chairmanship: a recess appointment, which could come as early as next week, when Congress breaks for Thanksgiving. But industry sources said such an appointment might trigger political riffs.
FDIC Vice Chairman Martin Gruenberg will become the acting chairman Wednesday. Sources said cutting his tenure short through a recess appointment would probably upset his former longtime boss, Sen. Paul Sarbanes, the lead Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee.
