Newsroom

Treasury nominee Amias Gerety told lawmakers Tuesday that if he is confirmed as assistant secretary for financial institutions, he will make sure the financial system is diverse and includes a healthy role for thousands of community institutions, including credit unions.

Gerety was testifying during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on his nomination and those of Adewale Adeyem, nominated to be Treasury assistant secretary for international markets and development, and Jay Neal Lerner, nominated to be inspector general of the FDIC.

Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, asked Gerety how Treasury would ensure that regulators tailor regulations for each type of institution. Gerety said he focuses on building relationships with financial institutions to understand the perspectives they offer. The "toughest standards and highest scrutiny should be on the firms that are the largest and most complex," he said.

Gerety was nominated in February for the post, which he has filled in an acting capacity since 2014. If confirmed, he would head the Treasury office that coordinates the department's financial regulatory activities. He has also served as a Treasury deputy assistant secretary and is currently counselor to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew.

Last year, Gerety met with NAFCU's top advocacy representatives for a discussion of credit unions' concerns with NCUA's first risk-based capital proposal. During the NAFCU Congressional Caucus in 2014, he discussed cybersecurity concerns and said the interests of credit unions and government are "truly aligned."