Prior to joining A&M, Mr. Ward served as a Retail Credit and Mortgage Banking Expert, NBE Level VI, for the OCC at Wachovia Bank, N.A./First Union (seven years) and in a similar position as a NBE Level VII Team Leader at Bank of America for 12 years prior to retiring from the OCC in January 2017.  Acting in the capacity of Lead Examiner for the retail credit and mortgage banking business operations, by supporting the Large Banks group’s key initiatives by steering and participating in problematic, complex, and high visibility examinations.

Mr. Ward served two years as a National Bank Examiner in the OCC’s Office of the Chief National Bank Examiner, Treasury and Market Risk Division, responsible for contributing to the OCC’s development of policies, procedures, and guidance to govern national banks’ asset securitization, capital management, and mortgage banking operations. During this time, he was instrumental in converting the OCC’s Mortgage Banking Handbook into a risk-based format.

Mr. Ward co-authored the OCC’s Mortgage Banking Handbook. Exhibiting extensive experience in delivering leadership and qualitative assessment of banks’ efforts to remediate identified weaknesses in originations, collateral valuation, residential mortgage servicing, loss mitigation, default management, foreclosure, bankruptcy, and mortgage repurchase operations, Mr. Ward’s knowledge and expertise remains highly regarded. For 10 years, he served on the OCC’s National Retail Credit Committee focusing on emerging issues impacting national banks. As a committee member, Mr. Ward offered consultation and input to senior OCC officials in the development of guidance, policies and risk management practices to administer supervision of retail credit and mortgage banking lines of business. Moreover, Mr. Ward stood as a pivotal member of a project team responsible for the development of the Large bank mortgage metrics for national banks mortgage servicing activities.

Mr. Ward earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in finance from Memphis State University.