The facade of the U.S. Federal Reserve building is reflected on wet marble during the early morning hours in Washington.JONATHAN ERNST/Reuters
U.S. President Barack Obama plans to nominate Allan Landon, the former chief executive officer of Bank of Hawaii Corp., to be a Federal Reserve Board governor.
Mr. Landon was chairman and CEO of Bank of Hawaii from 2004 to 2010, and was president, chief operating, financial and risk officer from 2000 to 2004, the White House said in a statement Tuesday. His predecessor at the helm of Honolulu-based lender was Michael O'Neill, who is now Citigroup Inc. chairman.
In the statement, Mr. Obama said Mr. Landon "has the proven experience, judgment and deep knowledge of the financial system to serve at the Federal Reserve during this important time for our economy."
Mr. Landon was selected to fill one of two vacancies on the seven-seat board. The Fed is nearing a turning point in monetary policy as officials expect to start raising interest rates this year for the first time since 2006.
Fed governors are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. While the Fed board traditionally has had a community banker or supervisor, that role hasn't been filled since governor Elizabeth Duke, a former executive at a Virginia community bank, retired in August, 2013.
The Fed Board has had two vacancies since the departure of governors Sarah Bloom Raskin in March and Jeremy Stein in May. Mr. Obama hasn't yet nominated a Fed vice-chairman for supervision, a new position created by the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010. The role has been unofficially performed by Fed governor Daniel Tarullo.
Camden Fine, president of the Independent Community Bankers of America, a Washington-based trade group representing more than 6,500 community banks, said he is pleased the President has nominated someone with community banking experience and supports Landon for the seat.
Mr. Landon retired from Bank of Hawaii in 2010, the second year the Honolulu-based company earned Forbes magazine's "America's Best Bank" honors. Bank of Hawaii – which has $14.6-billion (U.S.) in assets, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data – weathered the 2008 financial crisis under the leadership of Mr. Landon, who said when he stepped down that the firm has sought to run itself like a community bank.
The longtime Ernst & Young LLP partner joined the bank in 2000, and after his departure has been a partner in Portland, Ore.-based Community BanCapital, a firm that invests in community banks. He has also served on the board of MidFirst Bank of Oklahoma, which describes itself as the one of the biggest privately owned banks in the United States.
He has taught at the University of Hawaii and University of Utah.
Mr. Landon's political contributions include both Republicans and Democrats, having given to former president George W. Bush and the Hawaii Republican party, as well as Congressman Brad Sherman, a California Democrat, according to Federal Election Commission records.
When he was chief financial officer of First American Corp. in Nashville, Tenn., in 1999, Mr. Landon also donated $500 to the failed presidential run of Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, the records show.
Bank of Hawaii has ties to Mr. Obama's family. The President's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, served as a vice-president at the bank and left him Bank of Hawaii stock, which he sold in 2009 for as much as $500,000, financial disclosure documents show.
Mr. Landon, a graduate of Iowa State University, is already active in other Washington-area institutions, serving on the Smithsonian National Board and on the Public Broadcasting Service board.