Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said she will prioritize refocusing bank supervision and restoring regulatory tailoring if the Senate confirms her nomination to be vice chair for supervision.
Bowman was nominated by President Trump for vice chair, which was previously filled by Fed Governor Michael Barr. Testifying today before the Senate Banking Committee, Bowman said that bank supervision must be “reformed and refocused” to better address core and material financial risks. She also said that regulations must be approached “in a pragmatic way that ensures they are efficient and effective.”
“As I work toward improvements in bank regulation, together with counterparts at the other agencies, I will continue to rely on a tailored approach, especially for community and regional banks,” Bowman said in prepared remarks. “Tailoring is fundamental to ensuring we maintain and enhance the diversity of the U.S. banking system, which must include and support banks of all sizes.”
Bowman was asked by committee member Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) about the Fed’s independence when setting monetary policy and issuing rulemaking. President Trump in February issued an executive order that limits the autonomy of independent agencies — including the prudential bank regulators — to issue regulations. Bowman said it was important for the Fed to “maintain our independence with respect to monetary policy and the responsibilities that we have that are related to the economy.”
As for rulemaking, “I agree with the principles of cost-benefit analysis and ensuring that we’ve identified a problem that needs to be solved, and that we need to provide an analysis that supports rulemakings that we put forward,” she said. “So I wouldn’t think that we would have challenges with any rulemakings that we might like to engage in.”
