Michael Barr was sworn in on Tuesday as the Federal Reserve’s new vice chair of supervision, the Fed said in a statement, filling the last open seat on the seven-member Fed Board of Governors a week before U.S central bankers next meet to set interest rates to battle 40-year-high inflation.
It’s the first time the Fed will have a full Board in nine years.
As the central bank’s top Wall Street cop – a four-year posting that has been vacant since Trump appointee Randal Quarles left office in December – Barr will take the lead on the Fed’s regulatory agenda.
The former senior Treasury official’s long to-do-list includes potentially tightening up rules on banks to make them more resilient to financial stress or climate change, though he is expected to tread carefully as Republican lawmakers may balk at stricter oversight, even as Democrats may push for it.
Previous occupants of Barr’s role have generally followed the Fed chair’s lead on monetary policy decisions.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed policymakers have signaled they will likely increase short-term borrowing costs by 0.75 percentage point for a second straight meeting, bringing the target rate to a range of 2.25 per cent-2.5 per cent on its way to what is expected to be 3.5 per cent-3.75 per cent by year end.
Be smart with your money. Get the latest investing insights delivered right to your inbox three times a week, with the Globe Investor newsletter. Sign up today.