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Newly named CEO of Wachovia Corporation, Robert Steel, ’84, said he will “build the value of Wachovia over the long term so we can get on the front foot and go on the offensive,” he told the Financial Times in a July 10 article.
Steel, former under secretary of the U.S. Treasury for domestic finance and a former vice chairman at Goldman Sachs, was named to head the bank, which was hard hit by the trouble in the housing market. Although he has never run a retail banking franchise or mortgage lending operation, “his mix of a Goldman pedigree and years in the thick of the government’s effort to grapple with the housing crisis has made him a regular on short lists for investment bank board committees looking for new leadership,” the New York Times said in a story July 10.
Steel played a crucial role in formulating the Bush administration’s response to the continuing crisis in mortgage markets. ”He also championed a controversial plan by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr., a colleague at Goldman, to overhaul the financial industry’s regulatory apparatus,“ the Times said.
At the Treasury Department, Steel was exposed to consumer banking issues and was closely involved in the government-brokered rescue of Bear Stearns. “His close ties to the Treasury should come in handy at Wachovia,” the Times said. “So should his Goldman Sachs ties: Goldman in helping advise Wachovia on the strategy and management of the troubled loans in its portfolio. Goldman, along with JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, has been mentioned as possible acquirers of the bank.”
Read more: In Chicago GSB magazine, Steel talks with dean Edward Snyder about guiding domestic finance.