I was doing a little more research on Darrel Dochow, the senior bank regulator with the Office of Thrift Supervisions who was removed from his post for apparently helping the now-failed IndyMac to paper over some of its financial problems, and I came across this letter he wrote to bank CEOs back in September 2007 after he’d been appointed to his new post as west region director for OTS.
I look forward to continuing the close working relationship that I have enjoyed with many of you and to developing such a relationship with those whom I did not work with as closely in my Regional Deputy Director position. …I believe strongly in having open and ongoing discussions so that we and you benefit from knowing about any regulatory changes and how the challenges and competitive pressures facing the industry are being met.
It’s not smoking gun to be sure, but it sure doesn’t suggest an adversarial relationship of any kind between regulator and the regulated.
David Kurtz
David Kurtz is Managing Editor and Washington Bureau Chief of Talking Points Memo where he oversees the news operations of TPM and its sister sites.