Consumer Bankers Association names Lindsey Johnson its next leader

The Consumer Bankers Association has named Lindsey Johnson, a leader in the housing-finance industry, its next president and CEO.

Johnson, currently the president of U.S. Mortgage Insurers, will take over the post on July 5. She will replace longtime CBA leader Richard Hunt, who is leaving the group this summer.

In a press release Tuesday, the retail banking trade group touted Johnson’s experience working on housing issues and on Capitol Hill.

“With a depth of financial services knowledge and a proven record of bipartisan advocacy, Lindsey is just the leader we were looking for to promote the work of our member banks, advance commonsense policy solutions and champion our industry and the customers we serve,” said Michelle Lee, a Wells Fargo executive who chairs the CBA board.

Johnson has been at U.S. Mortgage Insurers since 2015, leading the trade group through discussions on housing finance reform, affordability and other issues.

The group, which represents private mortgage insurance companies, said in a separate statement that Johnson will remain its president through June 6, and that its board will commence a search for her successor.

Johnson, a Texas native, previously worked for the consulting firm PwC and in the U.S. Senate, including a stint as the Republican staff director on the Senate Banking Committee’s National Security and International Trade and Finance subcommittee. She was also a senior policy advisor to former Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., advising him on banking, housing and insurance issues.

Johnson also spent seven years as a director at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, playing a role in the Dodd-Frank Act and other crisis-era policy debates.

In a press release, Johnson said she looked forward to joining the CBA at a time when the industry is “undergoing a historic transformation,” pointing to technological innovation and increased regulatory pressure.

“At every turn, CBA has helped its members successfully anticipate and navigate a new, 21st century terrain,” she said in the press release.

The CBA lobbies lawmakers and regulators on issues ranging from the Community Reinvestment Act to credit card fees, small-dollar loans and small-business lending.

Though the group sometimes clashes with the Biden-era Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, it has also found common ground on occasion. Last week, the CBA praised CFPB Director Rohit Chopra’s efforts to examine nonbank fintech companies that provide banklike services.

CBA members include large and midsize banks, ranging from the more than $3.9 trillion-asset JPMorgan Chase to the $12.6 billion-asset BancFirst Corp. in Oklahoma. Its ranks also include several community banks with below $10 billion of assets, as well as SoFi Bank, the bank subsidiary of the fintech SoFi.

Hunt, who has headed the group since 2009, said Johnson “will be a fierce advocate for our membership and the industry.”