Department Administrative Attorney named Counsel to the Commissioner

December 8, 2008

State Banking Commissioner Howard F. Pitkin today announced the reorganization of the Department’s Legal Division into a more responsive unit to address the new financial environment currently facing our state and nation.

Gayle Fierer, formally Banking Supervising Administrative Attorney, will now serve as Counsel to the Commissioner.  She has been asked to tackle changes to Connecticut’s banking statutes.

“Gayle Fierer is an accomplished lawyer with years of legal and regulatory experience. Current economic conditions require a new approach to bank branching, mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganizations and, especially, our chartering process. We are in unprecedented times when our customers require more timely approvals,” said Commissioner Pitkin. “Gayle’s experience in helping re-vamp the banking, consumer credit and securities laws of Connecticut and make them more responsive to the needs of the agency and the industry will prove invaluable to me.”

The agency’s other attorneys have developed significant knowledge and experience in the business lines the department regulates and the legal issues that have confronted the agency. To put this knowledge to better use, the department is assigning these attorneys directly to each line division. 

“I look upon this as a very positive move for the Department and the employees involved,” concluded Commissioner Pitkin. “Reorganizations are good for the organization if they accomplish a new and more efficient order, as I expect this one will.”