NCUA chairman taps chief of staff
(Feb. 5, 2021) Catherine Galicia – with a long resume of service on Capitol Hill — has been selected as chief of staff by Board Chairman Todd Harper, the credit union regulator announced this week. She had been serving as senior policy counsel since 2019 to Harper, who was a board member at the time. Before joining the agency, she headed the CFPB’s legislative affairs office and has also worked for Banco Popular as vice president for government affairs, where she led the bank’s Washington office.
In a release, NCUA said Galicia is one of the highest-ranking Latinas in a Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) agency (which are NCUA, the FDIC, the OCC and the Federal Reserve), referring to a 1989 law enacted in the wake of the savings and loan crisis. She worked on Capitol Hill for 15 years, NCUA noted, during which time she served as counsel for Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) during their respective periods chairing the Senate Banking Committee; for Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) as staff director of the International Trade and Finance Subcommittee and Banking Committee counsel; as legislative director and financial service policy aide to Rep. Jim Maloney (D-Conn.); and as legislative director and financial service policy aide for Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.).
She holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Connecticut and a Juris Doctor degree from Rutgers University School of Law. She is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association.