WASHINGTON — Julie Williams, one of the nation's top regulators for large banks, announced Monday that she will depart from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Sept. 30.
"In her 19 years at the OCC, her contributions to the agency and her role in the world of financial services regulation have been extraordinary," said Comptroller Thomas J. Curry in a press release Monday. "In my few months as Comptroller, Julie played an integral role in my transition and has played an indispensable role in my leadership team."
As the OCC's chief counsel for the last 18 years, Williams was central in leading the agency's overall efforts under multiple comptrollers. She is often credited with key roles in policies ranging from federal preemption to how the OCC viewed protection of financial consumers at large banks. Williams at times has also been a target of criticism for the agency's large-bank supervision.
Consumer groups, in particular, have blamed Williams as the principal architect of the agency's preemption rules, which they say prevented states from enacting tougher consumer protection controls on banks.
No explanation was offered for Williams stepping down, and she was not immediately available for comment. The agency's press release said following her departure from the agency at the end of September, Williams plans to retire from federal service at the end of the year.
In 19 years at the agency, Williams was acting comptroller twice, first serving from April 1998 through December 1998, and later from October 2004 through August 2005. She was chief counsel under four different comptrollers and the first woman to serve as general counsel for any banking agency.
The agency's press release outlined several accomplishments in Williams' career, including policy on "bank interstate operations" and bank privacy issues. Her work also included "pioneering the theory, once thought radical, but now readily accepted and applied, that the Federal Trade Commission Act's ban on unfair and deceptive practices may be applied by the banking agencies to protect bank customers," the agency said.
Since the Dodd-Frank Act was passed two years ago, Williams has led the OCC's implementation of provisions in the reform law and been involved in interagency rulemaking projects.
"She also is currently overseeing efforts to consolidate rules for national banks and federal savings associations into a uniform, consistent, and modern set of standards that recognizes the challenges facing community banks and seeks to eliminate unnecessary regulatory burdens on both national banks and federal savings associations."
Deputy chief counsel Daniel P. Stipano will serve as acting chief counsel from Oct. 1 through the end of 2012. From Jan. 1 through March 31, deputy chief counsel Karen Solomon will serve as acting chief counsel. The OCC will conduct a search for a permanent successor.
Before coming to the OCC, Williams worked at the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, which was the predecessor to the Office of Thrift Supervision, where she subsequently worked. Before working in public service, Williams was an attorney with Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Kampelman in Washington, D.C., from 1975 to 1983.
