John S. Allison, Commissioner

A native of Olive Branch, Mississippi, John Allison graduated from Olive Branch High School in 1965. He attended the University of Mississippi attaining a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, while majoring in Banking and Finance.

Upon graduation, Mr. Allison served for two years in the United States Army. His last year was a tour of duty in the Republic of Viet Nam where he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal.

Mr. Allison is a graduate of the School of Banking of the South, Louisiana State University as well as numerous federal regulatory courses of instructions and seminars presented by various regulatory groups as well as courses offered by related industries and associations.

Mr. Allison has been an active member of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) since the mid 1980s , serving in numerous leadership positions over the years, including Chairman of the organization in 2005. CSBS is the professional association of state officials responsible for chartering, supervising, and regulating the nation's 6,000 plus state-chartered commercial and savings banks, and more than 400 state-licensed foreign banking offices nationwide.

Mr. Allison served as a member of the State Liaison Committee of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) May 1, 2002 to April 30, 2006 and served as Chairman the last two years. The FFIEC is a formal interagency body empowered to prescribe principles, standards, and report forms for the federal examination of financial institutions by the Federal Reserve, FDIC, NCUA, OCC, and OTS and to make recommendations to promote uniformity in the supervision of financial institutions. One of his last acts as a member of the SLC was to be a part of a task force made up of individuals representing each agency of the FFIEC. This task force was charged with creating a document to help prepare institutions for a catastrophic event such as Hurricane Katrina. This document can be reviewed at www.dbcf.state.ms.us/katrina/index.html.

In September 2007, Mr. Allison was appointed to the six member Board of Managers of the CSBS States Regulatory Registry LLC, which was charged with developing and now overseeing the operation the national licensing system for mortgage professionals.

Mr. Allison is married to the former Jan Garner of Kosciusko, Mississippi and they have two grown children.

Mr. Allison was appointed by Governor Haley Barbour during the 2008 Legislative session to continue the duties of Commissioner of the Department of Banking and Consumer Finance, a position he has held since July 1, 2000. Mr. Allison began his career with the Department on February 28, 1972 serving in various capacities, including Deputy Commissioner. He was also Acting Commissioner from January 29, 1996 to August 11, 1997.