USA: RANDAL QUARLES, GOVERNOR OF THE FED, WILL RESIGN AT THE END OF DECEMBER
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by Michelle Price and Pete Schroeder
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former Federal Reserve vice chairman oversight Randal Quarles announced on Monday that he would step down as Fed governor at the end of December, ending a controversial four-year term during of which his detractors have accused him of too much complacency towards Wall Street.
Joe Biden, who is expected to announce “fairly quickly” whether or not to renew Jerome Powell as Fed chairman, will also have to name a successor to Randal Quarles as well as fill a vacant governor post in what could be a major reshuffle. staff of the US central bank.
Appointed in 2017 by former President Donald Trump, Randal Quarles became the Fed’s first vice president in charge of banking supervision, a post created after the 2007-2009 financial crisis but never officially held under the Obama administration.
Randal Quarles officially left this post when his term expired last October.
His term as head of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), an international regulatory group, ends in early December.
As a former Wall Street lawyer and private equity investor, Randal Quarles, 64, has always been seen as an ally of the business world.
With the support of Jerome Powell, he relaxed a series of rules enacted after the financial crisis, deemed too draconian and costly, drawing the ire of Democrats, according to which these changes saved Wall Street dozens of dollars. billions of dollars while increasing systemic risks.
Fed Governor Lael Brainard, who has repeatedly opposed Randal Quarles, is being approached to replace him as vice-president.
Randal Quarles has often said that he adapted the rules to the specific risks of banks, a position supported by some regulatory experts. The excellent performance of the sector during the health crisis shows that it has not weakened the system, he said.
(Report Michelle Price and Pete Schroeder, French version Laetitia Volga, edited by Bertrand Boucey)
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