Sheila Bair to Keynote American Banker's 2008 Banker of the Year Awards: Financial News

Sheila Bair to Keynote American Banker's 2008 Banker of the Year Awards
Thursday October 23, 2008 10:04 am ET

NEW YORK, NY--(MARKET WIRE)--Oct 23, 2008 -- Sheila Bair, Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., will deliver the keynote address at American Banker's 2008 Banker of the Year Awards, a gala dinner to be held at The Plaza in NYC on Thursday, December 4, the newspaper announced today.

Over the course of the past two years, Bair has emerged as a pivotal policymaker on issues that reach into every corner of financial services, even as her agency has had to contend with a mounting list of failing institutions.

In arranging the sale of Washington Mutual to JPMorgan Chase, Bair's FDIC dealt with the largest banking failure in the nation's history -- and did so at no cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund.

Bair advocated for -- and won -- the addition of a provision in the federal government's financial rescue bill that temporarily raised the cap on FDIC insured deposits to $250,000 per account. She also went a step further, using regulatory powers to temporarily guarantee bank debt and insure all non-interest bearing deposits to an unlimited amount. Additionally, Bair was a key participant in the Treasury Department's decision to inject capital into the country's largest financial institutions.

Bair has also been at the forefront of the debate on the nation's mortgage crisis. She was an early and forceful advocate for a systemic approach to loan modifications. She has also called for stronger regulation of mortgage brokers and assignee liability for lenders, and has proposed that the federal government itself lend directly to borrowers to prevent foreclosures.

"Ms. Bair has been among the government's most forceful advocates for change in the way financial services businesses are conducted in this country," said David Longobardi, editor in chief of American Banker. "At this moment in American financial history, we're certain her comments will be challenging and enlightening."

Bair was sworn in on June 26, 2006 as the 19th Chairman of the FDIC. She was appointed Chairman for a five-year term, and as a member of the FDIC Board of Directors through July 2013.

Prior to her appointment to the FDIC, Ms. Bair was the Dean's Professor of Financial Regulatory Policy for the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. She served as Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions at the U.S. Department of the Treasury from 2001 to 2002; Senior Vice President for Government Relations of the New York Stock Exchange from 1995 to 2000; a Commissioner and Acting Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 1991 to 1995; and Research Director, Deputy Counsel and Counsel to Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole from 1981 to 1988. While an academic, Chairman Bair also served on the FDIC's Advisory Committee on Banking Policy.

Ms. Bair joins an accomplished group of keynote speakers who have addressed Banker of the Year guests -- an audience that last year numbered some 400 leaders from the financial services, government, and regulatory communities.

Prior speakers include Professor Lawrence Summers (2007), Senator Tim Johnson (2006), former FDIC chairman and Katrina recovery czar Don Powell (2005), Congressman Barney Frank (2004), New York State Superintendent of Banking Diana Taylor (2003), New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (2002), and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Mike Oxley (2001).

The annual Banker of the Year Awards honor the individuals who set the highest standards of progress, innovation, and performance in the banking and financial services industry. Since the inaugural Best in Banking/Banker of the Year Awards dinner and ceremony in 2001, the gala has become the industry's premier event, attracting a who's who of lawmakers, regulators, and leading executives. For information on attending or sponsorship opportunities, please contact Jessica Yazujian at 212-803-6597.

About American Banker and SourceMedia, Inc.

American Banker, www.AmericanBanker.com, is the financial services industry's premier daily source of information, news, and analysis for executives at banks of all sizes. Founded in 1836, with a current readership of more than 65,000, the publication covers topics including national and global issues, mortgages, consumer finance, legislation, investment products, card and payment systems and technology.

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