The MTRA Board of Directors appointed Sonya L. Allen of Kansas and Regina A. Stone of New York to fill two director vacancies on the MTRA board effective May, 2007. They will serve on the board until election time on October 9th 2007. Ms Allen is General Counsel., Office of the Kansas Bank Commissioner and Ms. Stone is Deputy Superintendent, New York Banking Department. Both have long regulatory service and have been active with MTRA. This brings the number of MTRA directors to ten.
Goddard of Indiana Retires From Public Service and From MTRA Board
The MTRA Board of Directors accepted the resignation of board member Philip Goddard of Indiana effective April 30, 2007. Mr. Goddard is retiring from the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions (IDFI) after 32 years of service. Prior to joining the IDFI, Mr. Goddard was a senior attorney for the Indiana Legislative Services Agency. He continued drafting legislation at the IDFI modernizing most of the statutes affecting the financial industry, and rising to the position of General Counsel and Deputy Commissioner. Mr. Goddard was elected to the board of directors of MTRA in 2001 and president for a two- year term in 2003. He was reelected to the board as director in 2005. Praising his service, current MTRA president Joseph Rooney stated that Phil will be remembered for his foresight, courage, and leadership at a time MTRA’s services to the states were much in demand.
James H. Freis, Jr. Named Director of FinCEN
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. named James H. Freis, Jr. as the new Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Freis currently serves as Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Enforcement & Intelligence.
As Deputy Assistant General Counsel, Freis provides legal support to Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, including supervising the legal counsel to FinCEN, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, and the Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture. He is also responsible for developing international financial measures against rogue states.
Before coming to Treasury, Freis served as Senior Counsel in the Legal Service of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, where he supported the banking and risk control departments in providing financial services to central banks and international organizations for management of monetary reserves. He also had regular interaction with the Basel-based committees of experts setting international financial standards. He previously served in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s legal department, where he advised on payment and settlement systems issues at wholesale and retail levels, administration of foreign government and central bank accounts, and legislative and regulatory reform. He was part of the successful defense of the Bank before the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in The Hague with respect to the management of Iranian funds during the hostage crisis. Freis also spent one year working in the financial sector in Germany.
Freis earned his Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School and his bachelors degree from Georgetown University, graduating with honors from each institution. He is an attorney-at-law and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder. Freis currently resides in Washington, DC with his wife and two children.
Freis replaces Robert Werner, who resigned in December 2006.
Annual MTRA Conference Dates and Locations Announced
The MTRA Board of Directors is pleased to announce the dates and locations for the 2007 and the 2008 MTRA annual meetings and conferences. The 2007 MTRA Annual Meeting and Conference will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina and the 2008 Annual Meeting and Conference will be held at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend:
2007 MTRA ANNUAL MEETING AND CONFERENCE
The Blake Hotel
Charlotte, NC
October 9-11, 2007
2008 MTRA ANNUAL MEETING AND CONFERENCE
Snow King Resort
Jackson (Hole), WY (near Teton Nat’l Park)
September 3-5, 2008
MTRA Board Member Gonzales Appointed Tennessee Banking Commissioner
The MTRA Board of Directors congratulates board member Greg Gonzales for his appointment to fill the position of Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions. Greg was named Commissioner and to the cabinet by Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen and took the oath of office during the Governor’s second inauguration on January 20, 2007. He is the Department’s 18th Commissioner.
Gonzales has served as the Department’s Acting Commissioner since December 2005. He has worked for Financial Institutions since 1986, and his duties have included serving as general counsel, as well as directing budget, human resources and legislative efforts for the Department. Gonzales is a Tennessee Technological University graduate and holds a law degree from the University of Tennessee.
“I am grateful to Governor Bredesen for his confidence in me,” Gonzales said. “After serving more than 20 years in the Department of Financial Institutions in a number of different roles, including most recently as Acting Commissioner, I am honored to lead this agency. I will continue the Department’s work in ensuring that Tennessee’s financial institutions remain safe and sound for the people of Tennessee.”
The Department of Financial Institutions is responsible for monitoring the safety and soundness of all state-chartered depository financial institutions and for ensuring that licensed non-depository financial institutions comply with governing laws and regulations.
Gonzales has been an active member of the MTRA board of directors for many years, and more recently served as Vice President. He was instrumental in drafting legislative guidelines for money transmission laws, used widely by many states in modernizing their money transmission laws. He was also instrumental in drafting an interstate cooperative agreement, executed so far by 34 states that regulate money transmission.