The president’s nominations of Richard Clarida and Michelle (“Miki”) Bowman to the Federal Reserve Board are headed for Senate Banking Committee action Tuesday. If approved by the committee, their nominations would proceed to the Senate for final votes on confirmation.
Clarida has been nominated to a four-year term as the Fed’s vice chairman and as a Fed Board governor representing Region 1 (Boston, Mass.). Bowman has been nominated as the Fed Board’s community bank representative for Region 8 (St. Louis, Mo.). Both testified before the panel May 15.
During the May 15 hearing, Clarida testified that he supported the goals of tailoring and efficiency in regulation “but within the context of preserving important improvements” in safety and soundness achieved in the years following the financial crisis, including under the Dodd-Frank Act. He said he would seek out efficiencies in regulation that do not put the financial system “at risk in an unnecessary way.”
Bowman said she supports the gains in recent years in financial institutions’ health, but she said regulators “need to be very aware of the complexity, size and risk” profiles of regulated institutions. “I think it’s appropriate to consider those characteristics within the context of safety and soundness … [and] apply the most appropriate level of regulation to each institution,” she said during the hearing.
Clarida has previously served in the Reagan administration and is a strategic advisor for PIMCO. Bowman comes from a community banking family and is also a former banker and current state regulator.
The committee’s June 12 executive session on the two nominations is scheduled for 10 a.m. ET.