Martin Gruenberg, an advocate of strict capital requirements and scrutiny of bank mergers, will retire in January.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairman Martin Gruenberg has announced his retirement effective Jan. 19, 2025, one day before President-elect Donald Trump is set to be sworn into office.
“It has been the greatest honor of my career to serve at the FDIC,” Gruenberg wrote in a Nov. 19 message to agency staff that was viewed by The Epoch Times. “I have especially valued the privilege of working with the dedicated public servants who carry out the critically important mission of this agency.”
The departure of Gruenberg, a Democrat, marks the end of his nearly two-decade tenure at the FDIC, an agency established during the Great Depression that runs the nation’s deposit insurance program, which reimburses American savers up to $250,000 in case their bank fails. During his tenure, Gruenberg served as acting FDIC chairman on a number of occasions, and then twice as chairman, first under former President Barack Obama and then under President Joe Biden.
Gruenberg’s imminent retirement was announced at a critical time for the FDIC, which also serves as one of several U.S. banking system regulators and the nation’s resolution authority, responsible for winding down distressed banks in ways that avoid their outright collapse in order to minimize the risk of financial system disruption. Earlier this year, Gruenberg faced calls to resign from House and Senate lawmakers after a
report found that the FDIC under his leadership failed to provide its employees a workplace safe from “sexual harassment, discrimination, and other interpersonal misconduct.”
In May, Gruenberg
announced he would step down once his successor was confirmed, but the Senate has yet to advance Biden’s
nominee, Commodity Futures Trading Commission official Christy Goldsmith Romero. While Gruenberg’s term doesn’t expire until 2028, some industry analysts
expected Trump would push for his removal.
Upon Gruenberg’s departure, the FDIC chairmanship will pass to Travis Hill, the agency’s vice chair and a Republican, who is
rumored to be on the Trump transition team’s short list of candidates under consideration for the agency’s top job permanently.
Gruenberg’s departure could pave the way for a shift in the FDIC’s regulatory approach.
Under the Biden administration, Gruenberg
advocated for stricter oversight of the banking sector, including stronger capital requirements and enhanced scrutiny of bank mergers. Some of these policies have
drawn criticism from Republicans and industry groups, who said that they stifle growth, burden financial institutions with excessive red tape, and impede the emergence of new big banks through consolidation that could provide meaningful competition to America’s mega banks.
The banking industry is expected to benefit from Trump’s deregulatory agenda, which could usher in looser capital rules and merger policies. After it became clear on Nov. 6 that Trump won the election, both the regional bank
index and the large-cap bank
index soared—and have stayed higher.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon
said at a recent conference in Lima, Peru, that bankers are thrilled by the prospect of deregulation under a second Trump administration, which he believes could revitalize America’s banking industry after years of stifling regulations.
The JPMorgan chief said that banks now lend only $65 for every $100 in deposits, compared with $100 previously, which he said stifles economic growth. Dimon also said that a deregulatory agenda could benefit industries beyond banking, including mining for minerals that are crucial for technology and defense industries.
