Two different groups of national banking legends, including the former CEO of McLean-based Freddie Mac, have applied with regulators to start banks in Northeast Florida that would buy failed banks. One of the banking groups, which filed an application with Florida regulators in February to form Bank of the Southeast in Ponte Vedra Beach, includes David Moffett, who had a short stint at the helm of the local mortgage giant. Moffett was tapped to lead Freddie Mac after it was seized by the federal government in September 2008. He stepped down six months later to return to a role in the financial services sector, he said at the time. Before his stint at Freddie Mac, he was a vice chairman and chief financial officer of Minneapolis-based US Bancorp. Now another member of his new banking group, the Office of Thrift Supervision’s former Southeast regional director, John Ryan, filed its application with the Florida Office of Financial Regulation’s Division of Financial Institutions. Ryan will serve as chairman of the board and Moffett will be president and CEO of both the bank and its holding company, Bancorp of the Southeast.
