President Joe Biden plans to nominate Christy Goldsmith Romero, who is currently a commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), to become chair and member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC).
Goldsmith Romero has been a commissioner at the CFTC since March 2022, sponsors the CFTC’s Technology Advisory Committee, and has issued reports on artificial intelligence (AI) and decentralized finance, the White House said in a Thursday (June 13) press release. When nominated for that position, she received unanimous confirmation by the Senate.
In October 2022, Goldsmith Romero said that regulation by the agency may be the answer for dealing with the risk associated with crypto as more traditional financial institutions show an interest in crypto.
Her nomination to head the FDIC comes at a time when the agency is embroiled in controversy after a law firm issued a report in May saying the agency fostered a toxic environment, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
Current FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg, who faced political pressure, said in May that he would step down when a successor is confirmed by the Senate, per the report.
“Until that time, I will continue to fulfill my responsibilities as chairman of the FDIC, including the transformation of the FDIC’s workplace culture,” Gruenberg said in a May 20 statement.
Goldsmith Romero has more than 20 years of experience as a career federal attorney and a leader in financial regulation and has served under four presidents, according to the White House press release.
During her 12 years at the Department of Treasury, Goldsmith Romero served for a decade as the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) and reported on TARP programs and lessons learned from the financial crisis, per the release.
“Under her leadership, SIGTARP developed a unique ability to uncover hidden fraud in banks,” the press release said. “SIGTARP investigations resulted in the recovery of more than $11 billion, civil charges against large financial institutions, and criminal charges against 465 individuals (with courts sentencing to prison 75 bankers and nearly 100 bank borrowers).”
Goldsmith Romero also served on a Council of Inspectors General overseeing the Financial Stability Oversight Council and served for six years at the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the release.
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