Apparently, a $116,000 annual salary package just isn’t big enough for taking on the job of Colorado bank commissioner.
So say industry experts who are surprised that the full-time post, charged with watchdogging state banks, remains vacant 10 months after the last chief packed up his desk.
Despite advertising the position nationwide, the banking division has attracted only one out-of-state prospect.
“They haven’t filled that job yet?” asked Michael Stevens, senior vice president of regulatory policy for the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. “There are plenty of qualified candidates who would be interested in a job like that, especially in Colorado.”
One problem, Stevens said, boils down to the position’s salary, which last year put Colorado in the bottom half of all states surveyed by the CSBS. Alabama and Oklahoma, for example, paid their top watchdogs $190,800 and $137,239 in 2008.
Although Colorado bumped up its compensation by $6,000 this year, Stevens said he knows of several top-notch national candidates who didn’t bother calling solely because they were turned off by the salary and what they called lax benefits, such as 2K weeks of vacation.
State officials say they aren’t worried. They think strong candidates eventually will emerge.
“I don’t have a deadline,” said Rico Munn, executive director of the Department of Regulatory Agencies. “I have a priority of finding the right person.”
Colorado’s banking sector has seen its share of troubles during the past two years. For the first time in a decade, the state has taken over two banks this year, including the permanent shutdown of New Frontier Bank of Greeley. Another 10 banks have been cited since 2007 for violating federal banking laws or regulations.
But the state’s woes are not proportionately worse than other states’ by some key measures. Although Colorado’s banking industry has carried a higher load of real-estate loans than recommended by regulators in recent years, other states have seen far more bank failures.
Some of Colorado’s most severe enforcement sanctions, including the closure of New Frontier, were handled by the acting bank commissioner, Fred Joseph, whose formal job is serving as state securities commissioner. Joseph’s previous experience as a regulator during the savings-and-loan crisis gives Munn confidence.
“He’s one of few people around who’ve managed a financial crisis,” Munn said.
According to Munn, 20 candidates — no internal employees applied — have sought out the job. But the state is competing with the federal government’s effort to recruit regulators into its ranks, he said.
“Generally speaking, it’s been a small pool of people with the right skill set,” Munn said. “Another challenge is that some percentage of them have either had conflicts of interest because of investments or affiliations with institutions that are in trouble. We’ve had to make sure we do a lot of due diligence to work with those folks.”
Munn said he finds no fault with the state’s search process but said pursuing another pay boost for the position isn’t a bad idea. It would require a change in state rules.
Stevens said Colorado would be wise to seriously consider the move or other ways to change its strategy.
“If there are aspects of the job posting that are serving as a deterrent,” he said, “the problem is that you don’t even know all the candidates you could have.”
Miles Moffeit: 303-954-1415 or mmoffeit@denverpost.com
