President Donald J. Trump designated Acting National Credit Union Administration Board Chairman J. Mark McWatters as the tenth Chairman of the NCUA Board, effective June 23.
“I thank President Trump for this honor and the trust he has placed in me,” McWatters said in a statement on Tuesday. “As Chairman of the NCUA, I remain committed to providing regulatory relief for the credit union community, in compliance with the Federal Credit Union Act, and to streamlining the operations of NCUA as a prudential regulator.”
According to a statement from the NCUA, McWatters was nominated to the NCUA Board by then-President Barack Obama on Jan. 7, 2014. Following Senate confirmation, he took office as an NCUA Board Member on Aug. 26, 2014. McWatters has served as Acting Board Chairman since Jan. 23.
“I am very pleased that Mr. McWatters has officially been designated as the Chairman of the NCUA by the President,” Board Member Rick Metsger said in a printed statement. “This recognizes his hard work and dedication to the mission of the agency and I look forward to our continued work together to provide access and financial safety to the over 100 million Americans who are part of the nation’s credit union system.”
Prior to joining NCUA’s Board, McWatters served as Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs and as a Professor of Practice at the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law and as Adjunct Professor at the university’s Cox School of Business. He also served on the Governing Board of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs and on the Advisory Committee of the Texas Emerging Technology Fund.
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 and as counsel to an international hedge and private equity firm, where he specialized in taxation, corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions. He began his career as a judicial clerk to the Hon. Walter Ely of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
According to the NCUA, McWatters is licensed to practice law in Texas and New York and as a Certified Public Accountant in Texas. He holds a J.D. degree from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law and an LL.M degree from each of Columbia University School of Law and New York University School of Law.
