Georgia Names Top Banking Regulator

A veteran banking regulator has been promoted to become the commissioner of Georgia's Department of Banking and Finance.

Kevin Hagler will lead the department, effective July 1, Gov. Nathan Deal announced Friday. Hagler succeeds Robert Braswell, who left the department on June 1 to become president and chief executive of the Community Bankers Association of Georgia. Braswell had been commissioner since 2005.

Hagler, who joined the department in 1997, has been its deputy commissioner for supervision since 2008. Earlier, he worked for SunTrust (STI) in Atlanta.

Nearly 90 Georgia banks failed during the financial crisis, the highest number of any state. In an interview with American Banker last year, Braswell said his office developed an early-warning system to identify statewide banking trends and prevent future failures.