Fischer leaves central bank board after praise for Yellen

Friday is Stanley Fischer’s last day as vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, leaving open three of the seven seats on the central bank’s governing body.

A fourth open seat was filled last week when the Senate confirmed Randal Quarles as the first vice chairman for supervision on the board.

Fischer announced his resignation in early September. The 73-year-old joined the board in May 2014; his term was scheduled to end in January 2020.

In his resignation letter to President Donald Trump, Fischer noted the “great privilege to served on the Federal Reserve Board and, most especially, to work alongside Chair Yellen.” He stated that the Fed, informed by lessons of the recent financial crisis, “built upon earlier steps to make the financial system stronger and more resilient an better able to provide the credit so vital to the prosperity of our country’s households and businesses.”