According to The Wall Street Journal, the White House is close to appointing derivatives regulator Christy Goldsmith Romero to replace Martin Gruenberg as chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Sources reveal that the incumbent chairman Gruenberg has indicated he will resign upon the Senate's confirmation of his successor.
Gruenberg, a Democrat, stated in May that he would resign following the Senate's confirmation of a successor. This announcement came after pressure from legislators due to investigations into sexual harassment and other misconduct within the agency.
Fifty-three-year-old Goldsmith Romero has a background in law enforcement and has taken significant actions against Wall Street banks and other financial firms throughout her career. She joined the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in March 2022, after spending a decade investigating financial crimes and fraud as the inspector general for the financial crisis bailout program initiated in 2009.
The report indicates that White House officials have also discussed two other female candidates, but Goldsmith Romero has emerged as the most likely choice. An official announcement could come later this week, though President Joe Biden has yet to make a final decision.
The White House declined to comment on the report, and Goldsmith Romero and the FDIC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
During her tenure as Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program from 2012 to 2022, Goldsmith Romero's office filed cases and partnered with federal law enforcement to take action against major firms like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and General Motors.
Furthermore, her office received awards from the Attorney General and the Criminal Division of the Justice Department after uncovering multi-billion dollar frauds, leading to the imprisonment of executives from the now-defunct mortgage company Taylor, Bean & Whitaker and the collapsed Colonial Bank.
