Big money and big companies always intrigue me. A companies best lobbiest and networkers always come from within the political system. Is Wells Fargo setting itself up for the future or what? Great strategy!
Obama Housing Official to Join Wells Fargo
By Nick Timiraos
Bob Ryan, who served as a top housing adviser in the Obama administration, will depart for a senior mortgage-banking position at Wells Fargo WFC -0.54%& Co. next month, the bank said on Monday.
Mr. Ryan is currently a senior advisor to Shaun Donovan, the secretary for Housing and Urban Development. He joined HUD in 2009 as the first ever chief risk officer at the Federal Housing Administration and served briefly last year as the agency’s acting FHA commissioner. He previously spent 26 years at Freddie Mac FMCC 0.00%.
Mr. Donovan called Mr. Ryan “a key source of advice and reason for the last three years at HUD,” in a statement. “We will miss his expertise, wisdom, and candor,” he said.
Mr. Ryan played a key role shepherding the $25 billion mortgage-foreclosure settlement between five of the nation’s largest lenders, including Wells Fargo, and 49 state attorneys general and federal regulators this past March. Wells faces a separate lawsuit over FHA-backed loans that was filed by federal prosecutors in October.
Mr. Ryan will become a senior vice president within the capital markets group at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, where he will coordinate strategy with industry trade groups and consult with policy makers on a range of housing-finance issues, said Vickee Adams, a company spokeswoman. His assignment starts on Jan. 7.
“He brings to Wells Fargo deep industry experience and understanding of mortgage capital markets,” said Ms. Adams. Mr. Ryan declined to comment.
Wells Fargo is the nation’s largest mortgage lender and has boosted its market share at a time when larger rivals have pulled back from the sector. Wells funded more than 30% of new originations during the first nine months of 2012, according to Inside Mortgage Finance, up from 23% one year ago.