[Photo:  Otting with CIT CEO John Thain / NYTimes]

Joseph Otting, who worked for Mr. Mnuchin at OneWest Bank, is being vetted for the job of Comptroller of the Currency, a regulator of federally chartered banks including units owned by large firms such as Citigroup. Mr. Otting was CEO of OneWest Bank before being fired by its acquirer, CIT Group, in 2015.

If nominated, Mr. Otting’s background could open him to criticism similar to what Mr. Mnuchin faced during his Senate confirmation process. Democrats called Mr. Mnuchin the “foreclosure king” and accused him of abusing homeowners. Mr. Mnuchin said that the bank did what it could to help consumers and that it inherited bad loans.

Consideration of a candidate doesn’t guarantee he or she will be chosen, and the president may choose someone else for the job. Mr. Otting, like other potential administration hires, could also be named to a different post as President Donald Trump fills out his economic team.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is an independent bureau of the Treasury Department whose leader is chosen by the president for a 5-year term. The nominee must be confirmed by the Senate, and can be removed by the president before the term expires. Comptroller Thomas Curry’s term expires in April.

As comptroller, Mr. Otting could represent a shift from Mr. Curry, who adopted strict standards for large banks and pushed them to curtail lending the agency viewed as too risky. Mr. Trump’s economic team, including Mr. Mnuchin, has expressed sympathy with banking industry arguments that regulatory policies adopted during Mr. Curry’s tenure should be scaled back.

BACKGROUND INFO ON ONEWEST.    Mr. Mnuchin was among a group of investors who acquired collapsed mortgage lender IndyMac Bank from the federal government for about $1.5 billion and renamed it OneWest.

In 2010 they hired Mr. Otting as CEO of OneWest to work on its revival in California. He previously was a senior commercial-banking executive at Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp. Before that, he spent 16 years at CA-based Union Bank. He began his career at Bank of America.

As chairman of OneWest, Mr. Mnuchin preferred to remain behind the scenes and Mr. Otting was often the public face of the bank. For instance, at a key regulatory hearing to consider OneWest’s sale to CIT Group, Mr. Otting spoke on behalf of the bank instead of Mr. Mnuchin.

Mr. Otting was fired from CIT, which acquired OneWest in 2015 for $3.4 billion, in a management shake-up. He received $12 million in severance pay.