John Walsh Becomes Acting Comptroller of the Currency

WASHINGTON — John Walsh became Acting Comptroller of the Currency on Sunday, succeeding John C. Dugan who completed his five-year term of office.

“I am honored to have this opportunity to serve as Acting Comptroller of the Currency and lead our highly professional staff while President Obama considers his appointment of the 30th Comptroller of the Currency,” Mr. Walsh said.

“This is an important and challenging period in the 147-year history of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency,” he added.  “We have much work to do in the coming months,  including continued supervision of the national banking system as we emerge from a severe recession; implementation of the many requirements of the new financial reform law, including the transfer of the Office of Thrift Supervision’s functions into the OCC; and completion of the Basel III capital accord.”

Mr. Walsh said OCC staff are more than up to those challenges.

“I’m grateful that I will be able to rely on the men and women who are responsible for the OCC’s success,” he said.  “I’ve had the opportunity to work with them as Chief of Staff over the past five years, and I have great confidence in their experience, expertise, and professionalism.”

Mr. Walsh’s service as Chief of Staff and Public Affairs since 2005 included direct engagement in all aspects of the agency’s operations.  He joined the OCC from the Group of Thirty, a consultative group that focuses on international economic and monetary affairs, and was its executive director when he left to join the OCC.  Mr. Walsh served on the staff of the Senate Banking Committee from 1986 to 1992, and as an International Economist for the U.S. Department of the Treasury from 1984 to 1986.  He also served with the Office of Management and Budget as an International Program Analyst, with the Mutual Broadcasting System, and in the U.S. Peace Corps in Ghana.

Mr. Walsh holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (1978), and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame in 1973.  He lives in Catonsville, Maryland.  He is married with four children.

Related Link

• Acting Comptroller of the Currency John Walsh