A native of York, Pennsylvania, Mr Eugene Ludwig, (54), is a lawyer and economic theorist, and one of the US's top financial regulators.

He was Comptroller of the Currency in the US Treasury from 1993 to 1998, making him the chief supervisor and regulator for the 3,000 national banks in the US. Mr Ludwig liberalised US banking laws to slow the defection of corporate clients to other institutions with better access to bond and equity markets. In 1998, he took the post of vice-president of Bankers' Trust and later joined Promontory Financial Group, a merchant bank specialising in financial service companies, of which he is now managing general partner.

A Democrat, he helped raise funds in 1999 for Al Gore's presidential campaign and is a board member of the non-profit Get America Working lobby group to help poor people. Last year he worked out a rescue plan for the owners of Superior Bank of Chicago.