Exit Interview with Jelena McWilliams, Part 2

As Jelena McWilliams prepares to leave office after an eventful three and a half years as FDIC chairman, she sat down with the ABA Banking Journal for a conversation on her tenure at the agency. While 2018 wasn’t that long ago, it feels worlds away—in terms of the time-is-a-flat-circle nature of the pandemic, but also in the landscape of bank innovation and racial justice. In the final part of this two-part interview, McWilliams discusses several policy aspects of her tenure, including: Why she abstained from the FSOC vote to issue its report on climate change — and why financial regulators should factor the impact of climate risk supervision on employment into their frameworks. How climate risk supervision might affect the safety and soundness of community banks in energy-intensive regions. Why she chose not to finalize the OCC’s Community Reinvestment Act rule and why it’s important for regulators to work together on a consensus basis. Her hopes for the future of the FDIC’s new Mission-Driven Bank Fund, a project two years in the making to support minority depository institutions and community development financial institutions. How the FDIC’s small-dollar loan statement helps address financial inclusion challenges.