Karen Petrou, founder of Federal Financial Analytics, dies
By John Heltman
WASHINGTON — Karen Petrou, co-founder and managing partner of Federal Financial Analytics and a luminary of financial policy, died Saturday afternoon of liver cancer after a brief illness. She was 73.
Petrou wielded an outsized presence in Washington economic and regulatory circles, cultivated over the course of decades in the industry and through countless speeches, reports, op-ed pieces and media appearances. Dubbed “the sharpest mind analyzing banking policy today — maybe ever” by this publication in 2012, Petrou offered policymakers and casual observers uncommonly comprehensive insight into the inner workings of the financial system. In a policy sphere riven with smart people, Petrou stood apart. Her distinctive guiding light was to improve the lives of people far removed from finance or power, even if her policy prescriptions might not align with the political valence of her audience. Petrou could be an intimidating presence; she did not suffer fools, though she encountered many. But to Washington insiders, she was something of an oracle — what she offered, to anyone who could keep up with her, was either incontrovertible fact or a sage opinion. Whether anyone listened was up to them….
https://www.americanbanker.com/news/karen-petrou-founder-of-federal-financial-analytics-dies