ALEXANDRIA, Va.- Alicia R. Castaneda was recently named to take over the seat on the Federal Housing Finance Board occupied by J. Timothy O'Neill. With O'Neill's departure, he is now free to join the NCUA Board, if the president decides to nominate him. His name has been floated as a potential nominee replacing NCUA Chairman Dennis Dollar whose term ended last April. Once President George W. Bush names a nominee, the individual must be confirmed by the Senate. Though sources familiar with the appointment process said they do not know of imminent action, Dollar's Special Assistant for Public Relations Nick Owens commented, "I assure you White House officials are diligently working through the process and the NCUA Board is a priority appointment. However, it is inappropriate to discuss individual candidates at this time." Other names circulating for the open seat on the NCUA Board include Missouri Credit Union Association CEO Rosie Holub and Texas Credit Union League Vice President of Staff and Public Relations Troy Stang. FHFB's Castaneda was nominated for the seat June 18, 2003 and confirmed on Dec. 9. She will serve the remainder of O'Neill's term that will expire Feb. 27, 2004, according to the agency's Web site, and then serve her own through Feb. 27, 2011. Castaneda has over 27 years of commercial banking experience, most recently as Bank of America's senior vice president, International Private Bank. She has expertise in fixed income instrument sales and trading, short-term investments, and arbitrage and liability management.