William M. Isaac
Personal Updates & Banking Industry Insights
Over 50 years of banking industry experience
To read my new white paper, “It’s Broken, So Let’s Fix It: A New Path for Banking Regulation,” click here.
A note from Bill Isaac
Born and raised in Bryan, Ohio, I received my undergraduate degree from Miami University (from which I am honored to have been awarded a Distinguished Achievement Medal) and law degree from The Ohio State University. I began my career practicing law in Milwaukee and then at First Kentucky National Corporation and its subsidiaries.
In 1978, President Carter appointed me to the board of the FDIC. Named Chairman by President Reagan two years later, I became the youngest FDIC board member and Chairman in history. While at the FDIC, I served as Chairman of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, as a member of the Depository Institutions Deregulation Committee, and on the Vice President’s Task Group on Regulation of Financial Services.
After completing my service at the FDIC at the end of 1985, I founded The Secura Group, a leading consulting firm, which I sold in 2008. I also served as Chairman of the Board of Fifth Third Bancorp, one of the nation’s leading banks, and worked as Senior Managing Director at FTI Consulting.
At the beginning of 2020, I joined the boards of directors of Emigrant Bank and New York Private Bank & Trust, both of which are owned by Howard Milstein. I am Chairman of Sarasota Private Trust and Cleveland Private Trust, which are part of the Milstein family of companies.
In short, my entire career has been devoted to the financial services industry as a lawyer, consultant, executive, board member, and regulator. I was Chairman of the FDIC during one of the most important and tumultuous periods in US banking history, when some 3,000 banks and thrifts failed.
So, I’ve dealt with literally thousands of troubled and failed financial institutions, and I’ve commented extensively on public policy issues through Congressional testimony and through hundreds of articles in leading publications, speeches, and television & radio appearances.
In my current work at Secura/Isaac Group, a global advisory firm serving the financial services industry, I help clients in the financial services industry navigate today’s complex regulatory landscape.
Please reach out to me should you have any questions or suggestions or need any help.
All the best,
Secura/Isaac Group
Currently, Bill Isaac serves as the chairman of Secura/Isaac Group, a global advisory firm. Secura/Isaac Group is the preeminent strategic advisor and partner of choice for financial institutions, non-banks, FinTech firms, central banks, and domestic and international regulatory agencies. The team of highly experienced former regulators and finance executives offers an extensive range of unique, independent advisory services.
Bill's work has been featured in:
Senseless Panic: How Washington Failed America
Senseless Panic dives into the 2008 financial crisis and analyzes the problems with the banking system that created a recipe for disaster. Comparing the meltdown to the 1980s banking crisis when over 3,000 banks and thrifts failed, Bill Isaac dissects how the 2008 crisis exploded when the Treasury’s panic spread to Congress, the media, and the markets.
From the foreword by the late Paul Volcker, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve:
“Senseless Panic is a clarion call to action by Congress, by the regulatory agencies, by accounting standards setters, by rating agencies, and by banks themselves… there can be no question that [Bill Isaac’s] sense of urgency is justified and his proposed policies need a thoughtful response.”
Senseless Panic is available on Amazon.