Biography Gennet Purcell   Gennet Purcell is the Commissioner and Agency head of the District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking.  She was appointed by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty to serve as Acting Commissioner on August 28, 2009. She was confirmed to serve as Commissioner on November 4, 2009.  As the Agency head, she is the primary regulator of the District of Columbia’s financial-services industries, including insurance companies and their representatives, District of Columbia chartered banks, mortgage lenders and brokers and all other non-depository financial institutions, as well as securities broker dealers and investment advisors.   Since December 2008, Commissioner Purcell served as the Deputy Commissioner, where her primary responsibilities included oversight of the agency’s core functional areas, including the divisions of Insurance, Securities, Banking, Fraud Enforcement and Investigation and Risk Finance.   Since her appointment, Commissioner Purcell has encouraged a consumer focus throughout the agency.  She has implemented several initiatives to promote consumer advocacy and encourage financial literacy on behalf on the District’s consumers.  Commissioner Purcell is also a member of the District of Columbia Financial Literacy Council.   Commissioner Purcell is an attorney and member of both the State of Maryland Bar and the Commonwealth of Virginia Bar. Prior to her tenure at DISB, she was a partner in a private law firm where her areas of practice included estate planning, insurance claims law, surety bond financing and small business planning. She has also tenured as an associate lawyer with the law firm of ShawPittman where she was a member of the Securities, Mergers and Acquisitions divisions.   She earned her undergraduate degree in political science from York University and her Juris Doctor degree from Howard University School of Law. Commissioner Purcell is a long-standing resident of the District of Columbia.