E. Joseph Face, Jr., Commissioner, Virginia Bureau of Financial Institutions

1300 E. Main Street
Suite 800
P.O. Box 640
Richmond, VA 23218-0640

Tel: 804/371-9657
Fax: 804/371-9416

E. Joseph Face Jr. is the Commissioner of Financial Institutions for the Virginia State Corporation Commission’s Bureau of Financial Institutions.  

The Bureau is one of many divisions of the State Corporation Commission. The Commission is unique in that it is organized as the fourth branch of government in Virginia with its own legislative, administrative and judicial powers. The Commission is vested with regulatory authority over most businesses and many economic interests in the Commonwealth of Virginia. No other state has charged one agency with such a broad array of regulatory responsibility.

Face was appointed by, and serves at the pleasure of three Judges who head the Commission. The Commission’s Judges are elected for staggered six-year terms by the Virginia General Assembly.

The Bureau regulates all state-chartered financial institutions including banks, bank holding companies, independent trust companies, savings institutions, credit unions, small loan/consumer finance companies, mortgage lenders and brokers, industrial loan associations, money order sellers/transmitters, non-profit debt-counseling agencies, check cashers, and payday lenders. The Bureau employs a staff of about 90 persons.

Face has been employed at the Bureau since 1979 when be began work as an examiner. During his career with the Bureau, he has had the opportunity to work in each of the Bureau’s regulatory sections and has participated in on-site examinations and investigations involving both depository and non-depository financial institutions. In addition, he has prepared investigation reports on various licensing applications, from new bank applications to merger and acquisition applications to branch applications.

In the mid-1980s Face was responsible for developing from “scratch” practices and procedures for the supervision and regulation of the previously unregulated businesses of mortgage lending and brokering. In fact, many states have used Virginia’s examination report and procedures as a guide in developing their own mortgage regulatory scheme. In 1993, Mr. Face was promoted to the position of Deputy Commissioner of Financial Institutions responsible for regulating and supervising all non-depository financial institutions.

In 1988 Face helped start the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators (AARMR), the national association of state mortgage regulators. He served as AARMR’s only two-term President. He has also served as President of the National Association of Consumer Credit Administrators (NACCA); the national association of state consumer finance regulators.

Face is chairman-elect of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors.

---