User:Pacamail/sandbox

J. Mark McWatters

J. Mark McWatters serves as the Acting Chairman of the National Credit Union Administration. With more than 30 years of legal experience as a tax, corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions attorney, Mr. McWatters has worked in both federal and state government, the private sector and academia.  He has significant experience in public policy issues related to the regulation of financial institutions and alternative investment vehicles, including service as a member of the Troubled Asset Relief Program Congressional Oversight Panel.

Education

Mr. McWatters holds a J.D. degree from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law and LL.M. degrees from both the Columbia University School of Law and the New York University School of Law.

Acting Chairman of the NCUA Board (January 23, 2017 – Present)

President Donald J. Trump designated J. Mark McWatters as the Acting Chairman of the NCUA Board on January 23, 2017.

As NCUA Board Chairman, Mr. McWatters heads the independent agency created by the U.S. Congress to regulate, charter and supervise federal credit unions. With the backing of the full faith and credit of the United States, NCUA operates and manages the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, insuring the deposits of millions of account holders in all federal credit unions and the overwhelming majority of state-chartered credit unions.

McWatters succeeds Rick Metsger, who was designated Board Chairman in May 2016.

NCUA Board Member (August 26, 2014 – January 23, 2017)

Mr. McWatters was nominated to the NCUA Board by then-President Barack Obama on January 7, 2014. Following Senate confirmation, he took office as an NCUA Board Member on August 26, 2014.

He succeeded former Chairman and NCUA Board Member Michael Fryzel, who left the NCUA Board August 30, 2014.

As a NCUA Board Member, Mr. McWatters focused on matters of regulatory relief, the economic power of the marketplace, small businesspersons, support for Middle American consumers and for the economically disenfranchised.

On January 11, 2016, while serving on the NCUA Board, then-President Barack Obama nominated Mr. McWatters to the board of directors of the Export-Import Bank. In May, then- Chairman Richard Shelby announced that the Senate Banking Committee would not consider nominations to the Export-Import Bank Board, as he was philosophically opposed to the continued operation of the bank, but not to Mr. McWatters as a nominee.

Prior Service

Prior to joining the NCUA Board, Mr. McWatters served as the Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs and as a Professor of Practice at the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law and as an Adjunct Professor at the SMU Cox School of Business. He also served on the Governing Board of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs and the Advisory Committee of the Texas Emerging Technology Fund.

Previously, Mr. McWatters served as a member of the Troubled Asset Relief Program Congressional Oversight Panel and as counsel to Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas).

He also practiced law as a partner in three large cross-border law firms (Norton Rose Fulbright, K&L Gates, and Squire Patton Boggs) and as counsel to an international hedge and private equity firm (HBK Capital Management), where he specialized in taxation, corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions. Immediately after graduating from law school, Mr. McWatters served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Walter Ely of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Los Angeles.

References

“McWatters Confirmed by Senate.” Credit Union Times. June 19, 2014 http://www.cutimes.com/2014/06/19/mcwatters-confirmed-by-senate

Obama to Nominate Mark McWatters to NCUA Board. Credit Union Times. December 18, 2013 http://www.cutimes.com/2013/12/18/obama-to-nominate-mark-mcwatters-to-ncua-board

“Senate Approves McWatters to NCUA Board of Directors.” Credit Union Journal. June 19, 2014. https://www.cujournal.com/news/senate-approves-mcwatters-to-ncua-board-of-directors

“McWatters Takes Oath as New NCUA Board Member.” Credit Union Times. August 26, 2014 http://www.cutimes.com/2014/08/26/mcwatters-takes-oath-as-new-ncua-board-member

“White House Nominates Republican to Export-Import Bank Board. The Wall Street Journal.” January 11, 2016 http://www.wsj.com/articles/white-house-nominates-republican-to-export-import-bank-board-1452549036

“Shelby: No Plans to Move McWatters to Ex-Im.”Credit Union Times. March 15, 2016 http://www.cutimes.com/2016/03/15/shelby-no-plans-to-move-mcwatters-to-ex-im?page=1&slreturn=1496772222

McWatters Ex-Im Bank Move Off the Table: Shelby. Credit Union Times. May 10, 2016 http://www.cutimes.com/2016/05/10/mcwatters-ex-im-bank-move-off-the-table-shelby

“Trump taps McWatters as acting NCUA chair.” Credit Union Journal. January 26, 2017 https://www.cujournal.com/news/trump-picks-mcwatters-as-acting-ncua-chair

“McWatters' TARP Past: NCUA Board.” Credit Union Times. January 8, 2014 http://www.cutimes.com/2014/01/08/mcwatters-tarp-past-ncua-board