Donald E. Powell served as chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. from 2001 to 2005. He was sworn in 13 days before the 9/11 attacks.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was in the FDIC's offices in Washington, D.C., hosting a breakfast for a group of community bankers who were visiting the agency. At the time, I had been chair of the FDIC for just under two weeks.
I was only partway through my remarks to the bankers when John Bovenzi, the FDIC's chief operating officer, took me aside and said that two planes had struck the Twin Towers in lower Manhattan. An aide had told John about the first plane shortly after it happened, but he had decided not to interrupt the breakfast, believing, as many did, that it was a terrible accident.
The second plane had made it clear to everyone that the country was under attack, and we immediately canceled the remainder of the event. Moments later, we looked out a window in the FDIC's offices and saw smoke rising from the direction of the Pentagon.
At that moment, our thoughts went immediately to the safety of our colleagues, both in Washington and in our regional office in Manhattan, which was only a few blocks away from the World Trade Center.
Our initial plan for the D.C. office was to have our people shelter in place, but then we received word that another plane was still in the air and headed toward Washington. With the FDIC's offices just a short distance from the White House, getting our people out of harm's way was vital.
It was about that time that a federal law enforcement officer appeared in the building with orders to bring me to a secure location. I would later learn that John Bovenzi and the FDIC security team, without regard for their own safety, had remained in the building until everyone was evacuated. To this day, I remain grateful for John's courage, judgment and calmness under pressure.
Later, we also got word that all of our colleagues in the New York office were safe and accounted for.
Before I was sworn in as FDIC chair, I had been told by colleagues familiar with the agency that its people were at their best in moments of crisis. On 9/11 and in the days that followed, I saw that for myself. Unable to come back to the D.C. offices immediately, the agency restarted operations from a backup facility and immediately began addressing a long list of concerns.
Along with the other bank regulatory agencies, we knew that we needed to reassure the American public that the banking system was operational and that their money was safe.
On September 12 we released a statement saying, "The public can rest assured that deposit insurance is in full force — money is safe in an FDIC-insured account."
In the days that followed, we took multiple steps to ensure that banks were able to continue to operate, even with the system under extreme stress. We made it clear that FDIC examiners would not penalize banks for taking unusual measures to serve their customers during the crisis. As a group, bank regulators announced that temporary changes to regulatory capital levels as a result of the crisis would not incur penalties.
Over the next weeks and months, the FDIC worked closely with federal law enforcement agencies to trace the funds that had bankrolled the 9/11 attacks. We also collaborated with members of Congress as they worked toward passage of important legislation after the attack, including the USA Patriot Act.
Looking back on everything 25 years later, one of the things that I remember most clearly is the resiliency and adaptability of the U.S. banking system. Back-up plans were in place, and with few exceptions, operations continued with minimal interruption.
In a time of grave peril to the country, banks large and small stepped up to keep the financial system operating and helped prevent a terrible human tragedy from provoking a major financial crisis.
