As far Democrats and consumer advocates are concerned, John Walsh can’t be replaced fast enough by President Barack Obama.

 

Walsh has spent the past year running the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which puts him in charge of regulating most of the nation’s largest banks. He took over as acting comptroller after John Dugan, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, stepped down in August 2010.

 

Walsh, a Republican, has complained recently about the Wall Street reforms adopted by Congress while still under Democratic control. He claims the new restrictions will hamper the business of banking. During a speech last month, Walsh said the changes may “squeeze too much risk and complexity out of banking.”

 

Now, Walsh is trying to use his authority to “soften” the regulations affecting the financial industry, and that has angered supporters of stronger oversight of banks.

 

“The OCC is acting as if there was never a financial crisis,” Dennis Kelleher, president of Better Markets, a nonprofit group seeking increased regulation of the financial industry, told The New York Times. “It’s just an utterly indefensible abdication of its responsibility to the American people.”

 

Critics are hoping Obama chooses his own person soon to run OCC. But getting that person in place could prove challenging since the appointment would require confirmation from the Senate, where Republicans are not enthralled with cracking down on the banking business.

 

Dodd-Frank Backers Clash with Regulator (by Binyamin Appelbaum, New York Times)

Treasury Assails OCC on Draft Rule (by Victoria McGrane, Wall Street Journal)

Acting Comptroller of the Currency: Who is John Walsh? (by Danny Biederman and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)