Tom Curry

Only hours after the Supreme Court determined that the structure of the Federal Housing Finance Agency was unconstitutional for prohibiting the president from firing the appointed director of the agency without cause, President Joe Biden replaced Trump-appointed agency director Mark Calabria with Sandra Thompson. Most recently, Thompson served as deputy director of the agency’s Division of Housing Mission and Goals, and prior to that served in various senior leadership positions with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. She was the first African American woman to head the FDIC’s Division of Risk Management Supervision. 

Thompson’s elevation to director of the FHFA reflects President Biden’s continuing effort to appoint diverse financial regulators with an eye toward firmer regulation and a commitment to economic equity and increased access. Thompson’s prior experience lends itself well to these commitments. In her former position running the Division of Housing Mission and Goals, she focused primarily on housing and regulatory policy, including fair lending and mission activities for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks.  

Kate Henry

Her work with the FDIC also involved significant emphasis on risk management and consumer protection policies. During her FDIC career, Thompson worked on failed-bank resolutions during the 1980s Savings and Loan Crisis and more recently managing the 2008 financial crisis and implementing many of the Dodd Frank Act’s reforms.  

Racial Equity a Top Concern 

In addition to the furtherance of President Biden’s economic equity and consumer protection goals, Thompson’s appointment marks what is likely to be a significant shift in the ongoing debate regarding whether to privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac after both organizations were placed under federal conservatorship following the 2008 financial crisis and Great Recession.  

Calabria first proposed privatization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in mid-2020, citing improved safety and soundness measures that would ensure stability of the privatized models. The shift in leadership from Calabria to Thompson effectively ends the Trump administration’s efforts to reprivatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and allows the Biden administration the ability to steer the FHFA’s focus to address home ownership inequality. 

Armand J. Santaniello

Thompson’s elevation is just one appointment of several by the Biden administration that promises to focus financial regulation on economic equality and consumer protection. Although President Biden’s initial nominee for director of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, Rohit Chopra, has not yet been confirmed, Acting Director Dave Uejio has made it clear that the CFPB’s top priorities are relief for consumers facing hardship due to COVID-19 and racial equity in the financial system.  

According to a Feb. 10 statement, Uejio underscored the bureau’s intent to use its Division of Consumer Education and External Affairs to field comments and complaints from the community directly. Some of the actions he had advised the Division of Consumer Education and External Affairs to take are as follows: 

• Target certain resources to assist homeowners struggling with delinquency or who are at risk of losing their homes from foreclosure, as well as those individuals renting homes who are at risk of eviction, to know their rights and to implement as many safeguards as possible. 
• Increase coordination efforts with other government agencies to provide assistance to at-risk renters and homeowners. 

• Collaborate with private organizations such as grassroots, community-based organizations and civil rights groups to ensure that useful information is spread to as many consumers as possible. 
• Assist homeowners and renters in accessing U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-approved housing counseling organizations to assist them in navigating the challenges associated with COVID-19-related financial hardships. 

Partnership Opportunity 

Most recently, Uejio was nominated to be an assistant secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, signaling that President Biden’s nomination of Chopra as director of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau may be imminently confirmed.  

Uejio’s transition to the Department of Housing and Urban Development provides the opportunity to transition his initiatives with the CFPB to the HUD, and provides a unique opportunity to work closely with Thompson to address housing inequality and housing-related financial hardship from two distinct but related government agencies. 

President Biden’s slate of current and future financial regulators shows a clear emphasis on housing equality and racial equity. As nominees are announced and confirmed, the Biden Administration’s emphasis on housing relief will likely continue to address current COVID-19-related housing crises and ideally aim to institute policies that will prevent housing crises in the future. 

Thomas J. Curry is a partner in Nutter’s corporate and transactions department. Kate Henry and Armand J. Santaniello are associates in Nutter’s corporate and transactions department. Curry is former U.S. comptroller of the currency and all are members of the firm’s banking and financial services group.