Thomas J. Curry Named FFIEC Chairman

WASHINGTON — Thomas J. Curry, Comptroller of the Currency, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), has been named Chairman of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) for a two-year term. Comptroller Curry is the 21st FFIEC Chairman, marking the fifth time the OCC has led the Council. Mr. Curry succeeds Debbie Matz, Chairman of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). The FFIEC also named Daniel K. Tarullo, member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, as its new Vice Chairman for a two-year term.

“It’s truly an honor to be named to the Chair of the FFIEC,” said Mr. Curry.  “I want to express my appreciation to Chairwoman Matz for her service to the FFIEC over the last two extraordinary years in our industry.  As the FFIEC looks to the future, I will continue to work with my colleagues to help ensure uniform examinations and standards that balance the financing needs of families, communities, and businesses while preserving the safety and soundness of the banking system.”

The FFIEC was created by the Financial Institutions Regulatory and Interest Rate Control Act of 1978 to prescribe uniform principles, standards, and report forms for the federal examination of financial institutions, and to make recommendations to promote uniformity in the supervision of financial institutions. It also conducts schools for examiners employed by the five federal member agencies represented on the Council and makes those schools available to employees of state agencies that supervise financial institutions. The FFIEC currently consists of the following six voting members: the Comptroller of the Currency, OCC; a member of the Board, appointed by the Chairman of the Board; Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; Chairman of the NCUA; and the Chairman of the Council’s State Liaison Committee (SLC). The SLC consists of five representatives of state banking agencies that supervise financial institutions and the members are designated from the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS), the American Council of State Savings Supervisors, the National Association of State Credit Union Supervisors, and the Council for two two-year terms.

Prior to becoming Comptroller of the Currency, Mr. Curry served as a Director of the FDIC since January 2004, and as the Chairman of the NeighborWorks® America Board of Directors. Mr. Curry served five Massachusetts Governors as the Commonwealth's Commissioner of Banks from 1990 to 1991 and from 1995 to 2003. He served as Acting Commissioner from February 1994 to June 1995.  Mr. Curry previously served as First Deputy Commissioner and Assistant General Counsel within the Massachusetts Division of Banks. He entered state government in 1982 as an attorney with the Massachusetts’ Secretary of State’s Office.

Mr. Curry served as the Chairman of the CSBS from 2000 to 2001, and served two terms on the Council’s SLC, including a term as the SLC chairman.