Following President Clinton's lead, the regulators are squeezing some R&R into the month of August.
While the president went West to Jackson Hole, Wyo., last week, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Ricki Helfer was traveling the Southwest with her husband, banking lawyer Michael Helfer.
Meanwhile, up the block at the Office of Thrift Supervision, Acting Director Jonathan Fiechter starts his two-week vacation today.
He'll be "somewhere in Wisconsin" this week for a family gathering, said agency spokesman William Fulwider. "When I talked to him about it, he didn't actually know where."
Next week, Mr. Fiechter expects to unwind with his family at his Northern Virginia home.
Comptroller of the Currency Eugene A. Ludwig left town Aug. 15, to vacation with his wife and kids on Martha's Vineyard. He won't be back in the office until after Labor Day.
As for Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan, he may be on vacation. Then again, he may not be.
"I can't tell you that," said a secretary in Mr. Greenspan's office when asked about his vacation plans. The Fed press office was equally unhelpful.
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The Senate confirmed Lawrence Summers as deputy Treasury secretary on a 74-to-21 vote.
Mr. Summers is replacing former BankAmerica executive Frank Newman, who resigned June 13, saying he wanted to return to the private sector. Mr. Newman is still working at Treasury as an adviser to Secretary Robert Rubin, but is expected to announce where he is going next month.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Alfonse M. D'Amato opposed Mr. Summers in the Aug. 11 vote, describing the 40-year-old economist as the "chief architect" of the administration's bailout of Mexico. Prior to moving up to deputy secretary, Mr. Summers was Treasury's under secretary for international affairs.
"We should not be using $20 billion in American taxpayer money to bail out a mismanaged Mexican government," the New York Republican said on the Senate floor. "Key administration officials, including Under Secretary Summers, were not candid and forthcoming about the true condition of Mexico's economy during 1994."
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Washington lawyer/lobbyist Mary Clare Fitzgerald has joined Hughes Hubbard & Reed law firm as its first director of government relations.
After lobbying stints with Bank of America and Chase Manhattan Bank, Ms. Fitzgerald handled government relations work at Greenberg Traurig, the Miami-based law firm, and Secura Group, the bank consulting firm here.
Hughes Hubbard has a deal-oriented practice representing money-centers as well as large foreign banks. The firm hired Ms. Fitzgerald so it could offer its clients lobbying advice as well.
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A. Lee Lassiter has been named to the newly created job of ombudsman at the Office of Thrift Supervision.
Mr. Lassiter, who had been working as the thrift regulator's liaison with the Resolution Trust Corp. and the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, is now charged with listening to the concerns of the thrift industry and the public.
Mr. Lassiter, 49, joined the thrift agency in 1989 as its Cincinnati district counsel. Before that he was a senior vice president with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati. He is a 1975 graduate of the Rutgers University law school.
The Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 required the banking agencies to appoint ombudsmen. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency named examiner Sam Golden to the post in 1993, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. tapped Carmen Sullivan this summer, and the Federal Reserve Board appointed Barbara Lowrey last week.
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The Senate has confirmed Tony Scallon and Sheila A. Smith as members of the National Cooperative Bank's board of directors.
The bank was chartered by Congress in 1978 to provide financing and technical assistance to cooperatives.
Mr. Scallon has spent 20 years in low-income neighborhood development. He is a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines.
Ms. Smith is president and chief operating officer of Advanced Rubber Concepts in Chicago.
