The U.S. Federal Reserve’s head of bank regulation and supervision will retire effective Aug. 1, a source familiar with the situation said on Thursday.

Cole’s retirement comes as the Obama administration and Congress press for a reorganization of U.S. financial rules and oversight to fix shortcomings after the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression tipped the economy into deep recession.

Roger Cole, 63, was appointed director of the division of banking supervision and regulation at the Fed in September 2006. He began working at the Fed’s board of governors in 1979.

Lawmakers and others have criticized the Fed and other bank regulators for failing to stop risky lending and market practices that contributed to a wave of mortgage defaults and a broader credit freeze that ground financial markets to a halt in late 2007 and early 2008. (Reuters)