DES MOINES, Iowa, May 19, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines has elected Richard S. Swanson as President and CEO effective June 1, 2006. Mr. Swanson is an attorney, veteran bank CEO and former director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle. He will replace Neil Fruechte, who has served as Acting President and Chief Executive Officer for the Bank since late December 2005.
Mr. Swanson is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of HomeStreet Bank in Seattle, Washington. Under his leadership, HomeStreet Bank became the largest privately held bank in the coastal Pacific Northwest serving Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Hawaii. As an industry-elected director from HomeStreet Bank, Mr. Swanson served as vice chair on the board of directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle until early 2003. After his service to HomeStreet Bank he became a principal of the Seattle law firm of Hillis, Clark, Martin and Peterson where he provided counsel in the areas of finance, banking law and SEC regulation.
"Dick Swanson has the exact skill set the Bank needs to continue serving our member banks in the years to come," said Randy Newman, Chairman of the Board. "He understands the needs of our members because he was the CEO of a community bank for over a decade. His extensive financial and legal background will also serve the Bank and its members well."
In accepting the position, Mr. Swanson said, "The Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines plays a vivid role in making home ownership possible through financial support to its member banks and the communities they serve. While remaining a member-owned cooperative, the Bank is now an SEC-registered institution and I am honored to lead it into a new chapter of its successful history."
Mr. Swanson has been a leader in developing and implementing affordable housing programs. He was a founder of the Washington Community Reinvestment Association and has served on the Board of Directors of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. In 2002, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the Mortgage Bankers Association. He has also been chairman of the Washington Business Roundtable and a member of the Fannie Mae National Advisory Council. He currently serves as a director of Triad Guaranty, Inc and Alaska Growth Capital. Mr. Swanson received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College and his law degree from Stanford Law School.
Statements contained in this announcement, including statements describing the objectives, projections, estimates or future predictions in our operations, may be forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, such as anticipates, believes, could, estimate, may, should and will or their negatives or other variations on these terms. By their nature forward-looking statements involve risk or uncertainty and actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied or could affect the extent to which a particular objective, projection, estimate or prediction is realized.
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines is a wholesale bank that provides low-cost short- and long-term funding and community lending to more than 1,200 stockholder commercial banks, saving institutions, credit unions and insurance companies. The Bank is wholly owned by its members and receives no taxpayer funding. The Des Moines Bank serves Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota and is one of twelve regional Banks that make up the Federal Home Loan Bank System.