Martin Gruenberg, the current acting chairman of the board for the federal insurer of bank deposits, would become the chairman (no longer temporary) of the agency panel under a nomination issued Monday by the White House.
Gruenberg has been serving as acting leader of the agency board since early this year, following the resignation of former Chairman Jelena McWilliams, who resigned Feb. 4. Gruenberg became acting chairman Feb. 7. He has been serving as a holdover since his previous term on the board expired in November 2018.
In a release, the White House said President Joe Biden (D) announced his intention to nominate Gruenberg to the chairman’s seat; the nomination has not yet been sent to the Senate. If confirmed, Gruenberg would receive a five-year term as chairman.
Still vacant on the five member FDIC Board are seats of the vice chairman – which has been empty since 2018 – and a second appointed member of the board, which had been filled by Gruenberg. In September, Biden nominated Travis Hill to be vice chairman of the agency board, and Jonathan McKernan to be a member of the board.
The other two seats on the five-member board are held, under statute, by the leaders of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (who are, respectively, Acting Comptroller Michael Hsu and Director Rohit Chopra).
The White House noted that Gruenberg joined the FDIC Board in 2005 and, since then, has served as vice chairman, chairman and acting chairman. He previously served on the staff of the Senate Banking Committee (including as senior counsel) and as staff director of the international finance and monetary policy subcommittee.
He holds a J.D. from Case Western Reserve Law School and an A.B. from Princeton University.