Two veterans of the federal insurer of bank deposits have top staff positions by the agency’s chairman, according to a release issued Tuesday.
Arleas Upton Kea will serve as the deputy to the chairman and chief operating officer (COO), and Arthur J. Murton will serve as the deputy to the chairman for policy, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) Chairman Jelena McWilliams announced. Kea replaces Barbara Ryan, who retired as COO on July 27.
Kea was most recently director of the agency’s division of administration for 19-years. She joined the FDIC in 1985 as a staff attorney and held several positions of successive leadership in the Legal Division, including appointment as acting deputy general counsel. In May 1996, she was named FDIC Ombudsman.
Murton, as deputy chairman for policy, will advise the chairman on “matters related to resolution and deposit insurance activities,” the FDIC said in a release. “In this role, Mr. Murton will enable the FDIC to more effectively address risks in the financial system, and carry out its deposit insurance, resolution planning, and receivership management responsibilities.”
Murton has served as a special adviser to the FDIC chairman since 2017. He joined the agency in 1986 as a financial economist. In 1995, he became the first director of the newly created Division of Insurance, which was merged into the Division of Research in 2002, to become the Division of Insurance and Research. In June 2013, Mr. Murton was named as the director of the Office of Complex Financial Institutions.
In a statement, McWilliams noted the “demonstrated outstanding commitment” of the pair to the deposit insurer. “I am deeply honored that they have agreed to serve in these new positions under my chairmanship,” she said.
According to the FDIC, Kea received a Juris Doctor from the University of Texas Law School and a Bachelor of Arts with honors from the University of Texas; Murton received a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Duke University and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Virginia.