White House Considers Regional Bank Executive for FDIC Chair

By Ryan Tracy

WASHINGTON -- The White House is considering a regional bank lawyer and former Senate staffer to lead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., according to people familiar with the matter.

Jelena McWilliams, chief legal officer at Fifth Third Bancorp., could nominated to be FDIC chairwoman, the people said. If chosen, she would succeed Martin Gruenberg, who was appointed by President Barack Obama and whose term ends in November.

No nomination is final until formally announced by the White House, and the FDIC post requires Senate approval. A White House spokeswoman said Friday the administration had "no personnel announcements at this time." A Fifth Third spokesman said: "We do not comment on rumors or speculation."

Ms. McWilliams was an attorney at the Federal Reserve and a staffer to Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee before taking the post at Fifth Third in January. The FDIC supervises thousands of small banks, handles bank failures, insures the nation's bank deposits and reviews the bankruptcy plans of the largest U.S. banks.

The White House had nominated longtime congressional staffer James Clinger for the FDIC job, but he withdrew recently, citing family obligations.

The White House has been seeking to ensure they have a successor in place before Mr. Gruenberg leaves. The FDIC has joint authority with other regulatory agencies on many key rules, from capital requirements to the Volcker rule trading ban.

Bloomberg earlier reported Ms. McWilliams was under consideration.

Write to Ryan Tracy at ryan.tracy@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 28, 2017 22:03 ET (02:03 GMT)

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