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WASHINGTON—The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today announced Blake Paulson would become the next Senior Deputy Comptroller for Midsize and Community Bank Supervision.

In this role, Mr. Paulson will oversee the team of more than 1,500 employees responsible for supervising approximately 1,100 community and midsize national banks and federal savings associations that provide banking services to consumers, business, and communities, across the country. In addition, he will serve on the OCC’s Executive Committee and sit on various governance committees that oversee critical agency functions and help align its activity to its strategic goals and objectives.

“Blake brings more than three decades of OCC experience to this opportunity,” said Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting. “He has shown a passion for our mission and employees and displayed a mastery of bank supervision issues at banks of diverse sizes and business models. He understands community banks deeply and the necessary supervision that keeps them a vital part of our financial system today.”

Mr. Paulson will take on this role in December 2019 as the incumbent Toney Bland prepares for retirement in January.

“I also want to take this opportunity to thank Toney Bland for his service and leadership to the agency,” Comptroller Otting said. “Toney has been an important voice on our executive team, a sage counsel to me, and an effective advocate for OCC employees and our nation’s community banks and savings associations.”

Mr. Paulson currently serves as Deputy Comptroller for the Central District. In that role, he oversees approximately 330 community banks and savings associations and manages a staff of 450 bank examiners and other professional and support personnel in the Central District that includes Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Dakota, Ohio, and Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota and Missouri. Blake took on this role in January 2015.

Before becoming Deputy Comptroller for the Central District, Mr. Paulson served as Associate Deputy Comptroller there, and oversaw nine field offices. Prior to that, he was an Assistant Deputy Comptroller for Midsize Bank Supervision and was responsible for a portfolio of national banks with total assets between $10 billion and $30 billion. He joined the OCC in 1986 in the Sioux Falls, S.D., office and holds a bachelor of science in business administration from the University of South Dakota.