Comptroller Dugan to Leave Office on August 14

WASHINGTON — With his five-year term drawing to a close, Comptroller of the Currency John C. Dugan notified President Obama today that he plans to leave office on August 14. “Through two Administrations and under three Secretaries of the Treasury, I have had the great honor of serving as the 29th Comptroller of the Currency,” he said in his letter to the President.

Mr. Dugan noted that the banking system had strengthened considerably since the worst days of the economic crisis, when its very viability seemed in question. Now, he said, the condition of the national banking system is much, much improved, with credit trends getting better in a number of areas. He added that it now seems likely that failed and failing national banks will be resolved without taxpayer losses, and that it seems equally likely that the government will earn a substantial profit from the extraordinary temporary assistance that it provided to national banks during the crisis. And, he said, “while the financial system continues to face significant challenges, national banks have stabilized, confidence has improved markedly, and institutions are now in a much stronger position to help fund economic recovery.”

This resilience of the national banking system is partly the result of the “unstinting efforts of the men and women of the OCC,” he added. “Their exclusive focus on supervision; their abundant talent, expertise, and judgment; and their dedication to their jobs and the OCC’s mission have all served the nation exceptionally well during this intensely stressful period.” He said he was “deeply fortunate to have been able to rely on them” during his term of service.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is the oldest regulatory agency in the federal government, having been established during the Administration of President Lincoln in 1863. Mr. Dugan said its mission “is straightforward and vitally important: to regulate and supervise nationally chartered banks to ensure both their safety and soundness and their compliance with laws enacted to protect bank customers.”

The national banking system consists of over 1,500 community and mid-size banks and federal branches operating in all parts of the country, as well as the nation’s very largest banks. Together they hold over 60 percent of the nation’s banking and thrift assets.

As Comptroller, Mr. Dugan has been a director of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and NeighborWorks® America. His international service has included membership on the Basel Committee on Bank Supervision and the Financial Stability Board, and for two years he was Chairman of the Joint Forum, a body of senior financial sector regulators from the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, and Australia that addresses regulatory issues common to the banking, securities, and insurance sectors.

Before becoming Comptroller, Mr. Dugan was a partner in the law firm of Covington & Burling. Prior to that, he served as Assistant Treasury Secretary for Domestic Finance and as Minority General Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the University of Michigan.

Related Links

• Letter to President Obama (PDF 16 KB)