Fed Names Michael Gibson New Head of Bank Supervision

The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday named Michael Gibson as director of the Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation, an important role that oversees the implementation of Dodd-Frank rules and bank stress tests, effective Jan. 1, 2012.

Gibson, 45, who has been the deputy director in the Fed's Research and Statistics division, will succeed Patrick Parkinson who is retiring after more than 30 years of service with the Board.

Gibson will oversee U.S. bank holding companies and state chartered banks. He'll also represent the Federal Reserve on the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.

Gibson is an economist who began his career at the Federal Reserve in 1992 in the Banking Section of the Division of International Finance. He moved to the Trading Risk Analysis Section in the Division of Research and Statistics in 1999 and was selected chief of that section in 2000. Earlier this year, Gibson was promoted to deputy director, with responsibility for the division's financial functions. Gibson holds a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.A. in economics from Stanford University.

"Mike's expert knowledge of risk management and financial markets make him an excellent choice at a time when we are drawing on a wide range of expertise in bank supervision and regulation to focus not just on the health of individual institutions, but on the financial system as a whole," said Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.

Parkinson joined the Board in 1980 and had made a number of important contributions, including being a key player in the development of liquidity facilities set up by the Federal Reserve to help stabilize financial markets during the recent financial crisis.

Bernanke said Parkinson "has been an exemplary leader, helping to build a more multidisciplinary and analytical approach to supervision and regulation."