US FDIC sexual harassment prevention deficient, watchdog says By Reuters

By Douglas Gillison

(Reuters) -Efforts to prevent sexual harassment at the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, a top banking regulator, remain deficient despite promises in recent years to address the persistent problem, the agency’s Office of Inspector General said in a report released Thursday.

FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg agreed to step down in May after a scathing independent probe found pervasive instances of sexual harassment and racial discrimination at the agency, where he has held top positions for much of the past 20 years.

The report released Thursday indicated prevention in recent years had not been an agency priority under leadership across administrations of both major parties.

The FDIC, which is charged with helping ensure the stability of the nation’s $24 trillion banking system, has neither shown commitment to preventing sexual harassment nor implemented an effective prevention program with the means to document and address allegations, the inspector general’s office said in a statement.

„This occurred because the FDIC has not sustained many program improvements that were initiated as a result of our prior 2020 evaluation,” the statement said.

Gruenberg remains in office while the U.S. Senate considers President Joe Biden’s nominee to replace him, Christy Goldsmith Romero, currently a member of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

As a result of its latest findings, the inspector general’s office issued 24 recommendations, with which the FDIC has concurred and pledged to address by the end of March 2025, according to the inspector general’s office.

An FDIC spokesperson told Reuters the agency was committed to preventing sexual harassment.

„We agree with all of the recommendations in the report and are making substantial progress to address them,” the spokesperson said.

In a response attached to the report, FDIC Chief Operating Office Daniel Bendler said Gruenberg and senior agency executives had „no higher priority” than ensuring that all people at the agency felt „safe, valued and respected.”