(Washington, DC) Lawrence H. Mirel, Commissioner of Insurance, Securities and Banking for the District of Columbia, announced the appointment of Howard Amer to be the Director of the Banking Bureau of the Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking. Mr. Amer started his new position on January 31.
Mr. Amer has worked for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in many facets of the bank supervision function for over 30 years. Most recently he was Deputy Associate Director in the Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation and was the Secretariat to the Supervision Strategic Plan Steering Committee. Throughout his career, he has been directly involved in multinational and international bank supervision, problem and failing bank resolution, financial institution emergency business resumption and complex project management.
“Howard Amer brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience about banking supervision and regulation that will help us reach our goal of becoming one of the most attractive state banking venues in the country,” Commissioner Mirel said. “We are delighted to have him.”
“I welcome the challenge of working with Commissioner Mirel and the other directors in DISB to enhance the attractiveness of the District of Columbia, our national capital city, as a great place for domestic and international banks to do business,” Amer said. He noted that having all three major financial services industries under the Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking was a great advantage now that Congress has torn down the traditional walls that separated those industries. “We will look for ways to permit new kinds of combined financial activities to operate in a supportive environment, while still ensuring fiscal soundness and strong protection for consumers,” Amer said.
Commissioner Mirel said that just last year the Council of the District of Columbia combined the formerly separate Department of Banking and Financial Services with the Department of Insurance and Securities Regulation to form the new Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking. “We look on this as a very positive development that will help us continue and strengthen our program for building a strong financial services industry in Washington,” he said.
Mirel has invited a group of banking lawyers to help his agency completely rewrite the District’s banking laws, and that effort is nearing completion. He noted, “We want the District to have the most modern banking law in the nation, one that takes into account the passage of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, as well as future changes in this increasingly international industry.”
Mirel said he hoped to have the new banking bill to Mayor Williams, ready for introduction in the Council, by mid-year. “With a state-of-the-art banking code, and a team of knowledgeable and effective regulators led by Howard Amer to implement it, we expect that the District will quickly become a favorite location for both local and worldwide banking institutions.”
