President Donald Trump announced Monday he is nominating banking executive and Las Vegan Joseph Otting to be the next comptroller of the currency, a position that requires confirmation by the Senate.
According to the comptroller’s official website, the comptroller “charters, regulates and supervises all national banks and federal savings associations as well as federal branches and agencies of foreign banks.”
The comptroller is an independent office in the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The comptroller is also director of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which insures certain bank and savings accounts.
Otting, a co-owner of the private Southern Highlands Golf Club in Southern Nevada, earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Northern Iowa and is a graduate of the School of Credit and Financial Management at Dartmouth College.
In the press release, the White House said that Otting has served as a managing partner at Ocean Blvd LLC and Lake Blvd LLC, and as vice chairman of U.S. Bancorp.
Otting had been president and CEO of OneWest Bank from 2010-2015, which could be an issue during his confirmation hearing.
During his confirmation hearings, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was criticized by Senate Democrats for his tenure as OneWest’s chairman, saying he failed to do enough to keep people from losing their homes and labeling him the “foreclosure king.” Mnuchin was confirmed, 53-47.
Both Otting’s and Mnuchin’s nominations occur against the backdrop of Trump’s efforts to roll back banking regulations enacted during the Obama administration.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.