Comptroller Dugan named Chairman of Joint Forum

WASHINGTON—Comptroller of the Currency John C. Dugan has been named chairman of the Joint Forum, a group of senior financial sector regulators from the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, and Australia.

Formed under the aegis of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the International Organization of Securities Commissions, and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, the Joint Forum deals with issues common to the banking, securities, and insurance industries, including supervision of conglomerates.

"Issues that cut across financial sectors are becoming increasingly important to all financial regulators, and the Joint Forum's work in this area has contributed greatly to international financial stability," Mr. Dugan said. "I'm delighted to have this opportunity to play a role in the work of the Joint Forum."

Mr. Dugan's appointment is effective immediately and runs through December 2009. He succeeds Dirk Witteveen, Executive Director of De Nederlansche Bank, who passed away on September 13.

In announcing the appointment, the Joint Forum's three parent organizations cited Mr. Dugan's position as Comptroller, his membership on the Basel Committee, and his extensive experience in financial services, which they said "places him in an excellent position to chair the Joint Forum."

Before his appointment as Comptroller in August 2005, Mr. Dugan was a partner at the law firm of Covington & Burling, where he chaired the firm's Financial Institutions Group.

He served at the Department of the Treasury from 1989 to 1993 and was appointed Assistant Secretary for Domestic Finance in 1992. While at Treasury, Mr. Dugan had extensive responsibility for policy initiatives involving banks and financial institutions, including the savings and loan cleanup, Glass-Steagall and banking reform, and regulation of government-sponsored enterprises. In 1991, he oversaw a comprehensive study of the banking industry that formed the basis for the financial modernization legislation proposed by the administration of the first President Bush.

From 1985 to 1989, Mr. Dugan was Counsel and Minority General Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. There he advised the Committee as it considered the Competitive Equality Banking Act of 1987, the Proxmire Financial Modernization Act of 1988, and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989.

Related Links

• Comptroller of the Currency John C. Dugan
• OCC website