New Mich. Commish Appointed

Michigan Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm, a Democrat, has appointed Linda Watters, president and CEO of Detroit Commerce Bank, as the new commissioner of the Office of Financial and Insurance Services (OFIS). She will begin April 28.

OFIS is responsible for the regulation of Blue Cross Blue Shield, 31 HMOs, 143 banks, 175 domestic insurance companies, 275 credit unions, 1,300 foreign insurance companies, 1,583 investment advisors, 2,164 securities broker-dealers, 6,000 consumer finance lenders, 75,000 insurance agents, and 120,715 securities agents.

Michigan coordinates the regulation of financial institutions, insurance companies, and securities industries consistent with federal financial services reform under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999. OFIS offers assistance to consumers who have questions or complaints about credit unions, insurance companies, banks, securities, and HMOs.

Watters, age 48 and a Dearborn resident, has more than 20 years of experience in the financial and banking industries. She was the President and CEO of Detroit Commerce Bank which she built from the ground up in 1998. It was the first bank chartered in the city of Detroit in 28 years. Today, its current asset size is more than $30 million. Detroit Commerce Bank is part of an affiliation of 29 community banks located in Michigan, Arizona, Indiana, New Mexico, and California.

Watters previously served as the Vice President and Relationship Manager of Commercial Financial Services with Standard Federal Bank from 1996 to 1998. She also served in several capacities during her six years with Comerica Bank, starting as a senior loan analyst for Corporate Banking in 1990 and working her way up to Vice President of Regional Metropolitan Corporate Banking in 1994.

Watters received her Master’s of Business Administration degree from the University of Dayton in Ohio and also holds a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from Bowling Green University.

Topics Michigan