Associate Director, Division of Depositor and Consumer Protection
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Keith Ernst serves as Associate Director for Consumer Research and Examination Analytics at the FDIC, extending a career that has spanned the intersection of research, policy, and banking issues. In his present role, he leads a team of highly capable researchers and analysts that provide analytic support to FDIC examination staff conducting compliance examinations; conduct original consumer research, including research on economic inclusion topics such as the FDIC National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households; and analyze consumer matters to identify potential emerging issues of concern.

He joined the FDIC in 2011 from the Center for Responsible Lending, where he most served as Director of Research. He has extensive experience overseeing research and his work has been published in various outlets, including academic journals. He has presented his work at research conferences, industry events, as well as in testimony before Congress and regulatory agencies. He has previous analytic experience in secondary mortgage market operations and has served as a consultant in fair lending investigations. He is a graduate of Hofstra University and holds both a master’s degree in public policy studies and a J.D. from Duke University.