By Godson Umejiego, Senior Correspondent, USA
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Board of Directors has appointed Debra Buie Decker as Executive Secretary.
“I have every confidence that Debra Decker will carry out the important responsibilities of the Executive Secretary for the Board with excellence, dedication, and a deep commitment to the mission of the FDIC,” said Acting Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg.
Ms. Decker as Assistant General Counsel and Executive Secretary will lead the FDIC Office of the Executive Secretary (OES). OES organizes and manages meetings of the Board of Directors and standing committees, manages compliance with federal laws and rules governing FDIC advisory committees, oversees the Corporation’s regulatory review efforts, and is the official record-keeping and historical unit of the FDIC. OES also oversees FDIC’s compliance with public disclosure laws and federal rules governing employee ethics and alternative dispute resolution.
Ms. Decker served as Senior Counsel and Deputy Executive Secretary in OES, formerly the Executive Secretary Section (ESS), since March 2020. In that role, she led the Board operations team in providing legal advice and logistical support to the Board, Board committees, Board members, and FDIC advisory committees. She was also the official principally responsible for maintaining all official records of the Board, its committees, and those of FDIC officers.
Before joining ESS, Ms. Decker spearheaded a knowledge-management project to ensure continuity of Board operations. Before leading this effort, Ms. Decker served as counsel to Deputy General Counsels at the FDIC while also serving as counselor to successive Presidents and Executive Council Chairs of the International Association of Deposit Insurers, Martin Gruenberg (USA) and Jerzy Pruski (Poland) from 2008 to 2016. Upon her arrival at the FDIC, she served as a counsel in the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI). Before joining the FDIC, she served as counsel to the General Counsel of the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) and counsel to a Deputy General Counsel of the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC). She began her federal government career as an attorney in the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), where she handled multifamily and commercial real estate development transactions.
Ms. Decker received her Juris Doctorate from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., a Master of Arts Degree in Political Science from Duke University, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and Urban Studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society. She has received certificates in executive leadership from the Harvard Kennedy School, the Federal Executive Institute, and the Center for Creative Leadership.
