Terence A. McGinnis

Terence A. McGinnis
Title: Commissioner of Banks, Division of Banks
Experience: 30 years as legal counsel in the banking industry; 28 years with the Navy and Naval Reserves

Terence McGinnis has been drinking from a fire hose for the past couple of months – figuratively speaking, of course. As the state’s newest commissioner of banks, he’s been busy talking with federal regulators, past banking commissioners and trade groups representing the 200-plus financial institutions he’ll be supervising in his new role. McGinnis, of Lynn, most recently served as general counsel for Eastern Bank, and he told Banker & Tradesman it was that experience in particular that showed him the real value of community financial institutions.

Q: How does your experience in the private sector inform your perspective in your new role as the state’s top banking regulator?

A: I’m still feeling my way around and learning our operations, but one thing I know is that the Division of Banks has a great reputation among the entities it regulates, but also nationally as well. I’ve been at several meetings with bank regulators from other states, and there’s a lot of cooperative efforts with other states, but for multistate entities that touch the jurisdiction of many states and they always have high praise for the people who run the division.

I also have some big shoes to fill. Prior commissioners have provided great leadership, so I’m humbled by that and understanding that I’ve got some things to live up to in terms of what they’ve done.

But I think a little bit of change is always good for any organization and a number of prior banking commissioners grew up with the agency. There’s value in that, but there’s also value in having someone from the outside come in. There’s a little bit of a different perspective that you can provide to the supervisory activities of the division. When issues come up, sometimes with my prior experience, I can provide a little bit of a broader perspective so our examiners will understand some of the issues that banks might be confronting and with that provide a little bit of a different perspective with supervisory activities.

We’ve got a dual mission – ensuring the safety and soundness of our state depository institutions and other institutions, but also protecting the consumer. I think we take that role very, very seriously and that’s more of a proactive role.

It can be done very much in conjunction with the banks and credit unions that we supervise. I’m envisioning moving in [certain] areas – I think there’s a need for safe senior and elder financial abuse education, and I think banks and credit unions are really at the nexus where they can observe hints or indications of financial abuse of elders.

I think we can also play a role in providing best practices for cybersecurity. A lot of our banks and credit unions are small in asset size. They don’t have the IT resources that some of the larger banks have, so to the extent the division can provide a resource in that area, that can be a value add.

What I’d like to see for the Division of Banks is that we’re not just regulatory supervisors, but we’re partners in advocating for our state banks and credit unions and proactively protecting consumers of financial services as well.

Q: Can you outline some of your other priorities in this role?

A: I think there has to be a little bit of discipline in terms of setting priorities because there are so many different areas where I can see the division adding value. What I’m planning to do over the next year or two, which the division has in the past, is undergo a strategic planning. Where do we see ourselves in five years? What are our priorities? Where do we have the resources necessary to respond to those priorities? We could have a ton of things that sound great, but unless we can execute on them, it doesn’t make sense just throwing them out there.

In addition to consumer issues like elder abuse and cybersecurity, I think banks and credit unions are faced with challenges in the area of innovation. You see a lot of non-financial institutions that have built a payment system outside of the banking system. Those entities, those companies raise expectations as to what services should be provided within financial services, so it puts a challenge to the smaller banks to compete with those. To the extent that we can facilitate innovation in our banks and credit unions, appropriate to their size and risk profile, and enable them to compete, to respond to expectations of their customer base, that’s another area that I think is ripe for initiatives by regulators.

Q: How do you see the division collaborating with other regulators, when it’s appropriate?

A: As a matter of fact, I’m scheduling meetings with the FDIC and the Federal Reserve. We had a terrific meeting with the regional director of the consumer financial protection bureau, who I happen to have worked with when I was at Fleet. It’s certainly opening lines of communication with the federal regulators. With the NCUA, we do joint examinations, so particularly in the supervisory examinations, you have communications because you’re doing joint examinations.

But above that, there are ways there can be a great exchange of information so that we, as a state regulator, can do our jobs more effectively. So it’s in part communication and it’s one of my responsibilities and obligations to keep those lines of communication open.

Sometimes when you say “communication” it sounds banal, but in my career – not just in banking, but also in the not-for-profit world and in the military – communication is the key to better understanding and avoidance of issues down the road. I’m hoping that that will be something that I can undertake and establish a culture of communication within my division as well.

McGinnis’s Top Five Pubs in Dublin:

1. The Bank on College Green
   Great atmosphere if you like old bank branches (as I do). They may even cash a check with the proper ID.
2. Grogan’s Pub on South William Street
   Where the locals engage in the favorite sport of the Irish – conversation – facilitated by a cold pint or a pot of tea.
3. The Long Haul on South Great George Street
   You know that you’re in Ireland in this pub. Good food and well-poured Guinness.
4. Kehoe’s Pub on South Anne Street
   It’s been around since 1803, so they know their business. After a Guinness or two, you might think you see James Joyce in the corner sipping a pint.
5. O’Donoghue’s Pub on Merrion Row
   The place to go for a Guinness and traditional Irish music. No “Oh, Danny Boy,” I promise.