Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. building in Washington, D.C. Photo by Monika Kozak/ALM

A Washington, D.C.-based in-house leader in the banking industry who formerly worked for two Senate committees is returning to the public sector to serve as general counsel of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Nick Podsiadly, deputy general counsel and senior vice president at Fifth Third Bancorp, will succeed FDIC top lawyer Charles Yi, who is slated to step down at the end of the month following a four-year tenure with the agency.

FDIC general counsel Nick Podsiadly (courtesy photo)

The reason underlying Yi's decision to leave the FDIC remains unknown. A spokesman for the FDIC stated in an email that Yi “hasn't announced anything at this time.”

The FDIC announced Tuesday that Podsiadly will join its legal department on April 8. He has worked in Fifth Third Bancorp's legal department since July 2017, overseeing regulatory legal matters and interactions, supervisory examinations and government affairs for the bank, which is headquartered in Cincinnati.

Podsiadly will be joining another former deputy GC for Fifth Third at the FDIC. Earlier this month, the agency hired Leonard Chanin as deputy to FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams. Chanin previously was a partner at Morrison & Foerster and also worked for the Federal Reserve Board.

Before he had a desk at Fifth Third's legal department, Podsiadly had a stint as senior vice president for regulatory policy for Regions Financial Corp., an Alabama-based bank, and as VP and senior counsel for the American Bankers Association, a trade association for the banking industry, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Earlier in his career, Podsiadly worked as investigative counsel for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee before taking a position as counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee and minority staff director for the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control.

“In these roles, he served in various capacities including as lead counsel overseeing the Committee's national security, criminal justice, constitutional law, drug policy, and homeland security portfolios,” according to the FDIC.

As Podsiadly prepares for his new position and Yi departs, the FDIC has promoted deputy general counsel Harrel Pettway to senior deputy GC. Pettway joined the FDIC as an assistant GC in 2015, after having served for a decade as associate general counsel for the U.S. Department of Defense.