Bowman completes shakeup of Fed’s bank-oversight unit
The Fed's supervision division is getting a 30% staff reduction and a philosophical overhaul that could open the door for banks to engage with digital assets
The Federal Reserve has completed a major restructuring of its bank-supervision division under Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman, a move that reflects her strategy of concentrating oversight on core financial risks.
According to a staff memo reported by Bloomberg, Bowman described the reorganization as a milestone in making supervision more effective, efficient, transparent, fair, and accountable.
Effective July 12, the division will be reorganized into four core areas, including Supervision; Financial Research, Risk & Applications; Regulation & Policy; and Business Enablement. Additional leadership positions will also be filled.
The reorganization follows plans announced last October to reduce staffing by roughly 30% and eliminate duplicative oversight. Supervisors were directed to rely more on examinations conducted by banks’ primary federal regulators while placing a greater emphasis on risks that directly affect financial health instead of compliance procedures.
Organizational changes also merge policy research with stress-testing functions, strengthen analysis supporting merger and acquisition applications, and give the head of supervision direct oversight of reserve bank supervision and banking industry engagement.
Since taking office as the Fed’s chief banking regulator, Bowman has advocated for scaling back several regulations introduced after the 2008 financial crisis. Her agenda includes lowering capital requirements, narrowing supervisory reviews, easing standards for banks to qualify as well managed, and reconsidering certain confidential supervisory warnings.