Bill Isaac has an unparalleled career in the financial industry and public service, spanning some 40 years. He served as Chairman of the FDIC during the crisis of the 1980s and is today a leading commentator and consultant to financial institutions and governments.

ABOUT WILLIAM ISAAC

William M. Isaac is a senior managing director of FTI Consulting and serves as Global Head of FTI’s Financial Institutions group. The financial institutions practice group provides regulatory counseling and risk management services, strategy consulting, expert testimony, and corporate governance consulting for financial institutions, law firms and governments.

Prior to joining FTI Consulting, Mr. Isaac founded the Secura Group, a leading financial institutions consulting firm. LECG acquired the Secura Group in 2007 and Mr. Isaac remained with the financial services group at LECG through early 2011. Prior to forming Secura, Mr. Isaac headed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation during the banking crisis of the 1980s, serving under Presidents Carter and Reagan from 1978 through 1985. Mr. Isaac also serves as Chairman of Fifth Third Bancorp, one of the nation’s leading banking companies.

Mr. Isaac is involved extensively in thought leadership relating to the financial services industry and provides advice to policy makers worldwide. He is the author of Senseless Panic: How Washington Failed America, published by Wiley & Sons, with a foreword by legendary former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. Senseless Panic provides an inside account of the banking and S&L crises of the 1980s, compares that period to the financial crisis of 2008, and recommends reforms to prevent future crises. Mr. Isaac’s articles are published in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Times, American Banker, Forbes, Financial Times, Washington Times, and other leading publications. He also appears regularly on leading television and radio programs, has been a contributor to CNBC, testifies before Congress and is a frequent speaker before audiences throughout the world.

Mr. Isaac founded The Secura Group in 1986 after serving as chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation from 1981 through 1985, one of the most tumultuous periods in US banking since the Great Depression. Some 3,000 banks and thrifts failed during the 1980s, including a number of the nation’s largest banks such as Continental Illinois and nine of the ten largest banks in Texas. Mr. Isaac was appointed by President Carter to the board of directors of the FDIC, and confirmed by the Senate, in 1978 at the age of 34, making him the youngest FDIC board member and chairman in history. While Mr. Isaac was at the FDIC, he also served as chairman, Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (1983-85), as a member of the Depository Institutions Deregulation Committee (1981–85), and as a member of the Vice President’s Task Group on Regulation of Financial Services (1984).

Mr. Isaac was formerly a senior partner of Arnold & Porter. Arnold & Porter was a founding partner of the Secura Group. Mr. Isaac left the firm in 1993 when Secura purchased Arnold & Porter’s interest in the firm.

Before his appointment to the FDIC, Mr. Isaac served as vice president, general counsel and secretary of First Kentucky National Corporation and its subsidiaries, including First National Bank of Louisville and First Kentucky Trust Company.

Mr. Isaac began his career with Foley & Lardner where he practiced general corporate law specializing in banking law (primarily regulatory affairs, including securities matters, acquisitions and branching) and antitrust law.

Bill Isaac joined the FDIC under President Carter

President George H.W. Bush

Paul Volcker

Bill departed the FDIC in 1985

Bill’s exit from the FDIC Bill's exit from the FDIC

1985 Letter from President Reagan Thanking Bill Isaac for His Service at the FDIC

EDUCATION:

LLD (Honorary), Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, 1984
JD, summa cum laude, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 1969
BS in Business Administration (Economics), Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, 1966

CIVIC AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES:

Chairman, Board of Directors, Fifth Third Bancorp
Chairman, Isaac Family Property Companies
Member, Board of Directors of BankCap Investment Fund
Member, Advisory Board of Lynx Global Real Asset Fund
Former Member, Board of Directors of MPS Group, Inc prior to sale to Adecco
Former Member, Board of Directors of Trans Union Corporation
Former Member, Board of Directors of Amex Bank
Former Member, Board of Directors of The Associates prior to its sale to CitiGroup
Member, Bretton Woods Committee
Member, Board of Directors of the Ringling College of Art & Design, Sarasota, Florida
Member, Board of Trustees, Out-of-Door Academy, Sarasota, Florida
Former Chairman, Board of Directors, Goodwill Industries, Sarasota, Florida
Former Member, Board of Directors, Community Foundation of Sarasota County, Florida
Member, Board of Directors, The Ohio State University Foundation
Former Member, Board of Trustees, Miami University Foundation
Member of Kentucky, Wisconsin, District of Columbia and American Bar Associations

Published Work

RSS articles by William Isaac

Split Chairman and CEO Roles? It Depends by William Isaac published by American Banker on May 15, 2013

There’s considerable debate these days on whether the roles of chairman and CEO should be separated in publicly held companies. I’ve reviewed hundreds, if not thousands of failed and problem banks – both as chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and as a consultant since leaving the FDIC. I have also served for the past three years as nonexecutive chairman of Fifth Third Bancorp. These experiences have given me a unique perspective on the chairman/CEO issue and on corporate governance generally.

The first observation I offer is that much of the debate about the chairman/CEO issue is misdirected, trivialized and too emotional. Unfortunately, any discussion or consideration of the issue is too often taken as a personal affront to the CEO involved.

Posted: May 17, 2013

Where Have All The Leaders Gone? by William M. Isaac, Contributor – Published by Forbes on May 10, 2013

Where have all the leaders gone? That’s the question I hear everywhere I travel at home and abroad. I can’t answer the question, but it caused me to reflect on what makes a good leader.

When I think of leaders I admire, the first thing that stands out is their vision. A leader knows where he or she wants to go and communicates it well. Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan were great leaders because they had very clear visions of where they wanted to take their countries. They articulated a few major priorities and devoted their administrations to achieving them. Reagan’s predecessor, Jimmy Carter, was a good and principled man but did not have a successful presidency primarily because he couldn’t – or at least didn’t – adequately explain to the nation where he wanted to lead us.

Posted: May 11, 2013

Penny Pritzker is right choice for Commerce By: William M. Isaac May 10, 2013

Last week, President Obama nominated Penny Pritzker, a philanthropist and successful businesswoman, to be Commerce secretary . I have known Pritzker for over a decade and believe she will be an outstanding secretary of Commerce and a great ambassador for the U.S. throughout the world. In my view she will be among the most able in the president’s cabinet – someone with considerable experience in business and job creation.

Since her nomination, some have said that her experience as chair of Superior Bank in Illinois – an S&L that failed in 2001 as the economic boom of the 1990s receded and the NASDAQ bubble burst – disqualifies her for the post. I was not involved at Superior Bank or with the Pritzker family prior to the bank’s failure but was quite involved after its failure so I believe I have a unique vantage point to comment on those events.

Posted: May 11, 2013

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