The European Securities and Markets Authority has published its final report and technical advice to the European Commission on incorporating sustainability risks and factors into European regulation. The European Commission sought advice from ESMA and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority in July 2018 on the introduction of environmental, social and governance considerations into the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II, the Insurance Distribution Directive, the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, the Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities Directive and the Solvency II Directive. The introduction of sustainability considerations into European regulation sits against the backdrop of the European Commission's Sustainability Action Plan, which aims to encourage sustainable investment and mitigate climate change risk in line with the 2016 Paris Agreement and UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In response, ESMA opened consultations seeking input from stakeholders, which closed on February 19, 2019.

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The Financial Conduct Authority is seeking input on its evaluation of the Retail Distribution Review and Financial Advice Market Review, two initiatives introduced in 2006 and 2015, respectively, which aimed to enhance the outcomes for retail consumers from financial advice and guidance given by institutions. The evaluation has been launched in line with a commitment by the FCA to conduct a review of the initiatives in 2019. Responses should be submitted by June 3, 2019.

Read more.

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published its finalized Approach to Supervision and Approach to Enforcement, following feedback to its consultation between March 21 and June 21, 2018 on drafts of the two approach documents. The documents should be read alongside the FCA's Mission document which was first published in October 2016 and most recently updated in November 2017. The documents form part of a series of formal approach documents explaining the FCA's approach to regulation in more depth.

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The Financial Conduct Authority has published a Feedback Statement to its July 2018 discussion paper, "A duty of care and potential alternative approaches". In the discussion paper, the FCA raised the possibility of introducing a new duty of care for all financial services firms.

Read more.

The Financial Conduct Authority has published a "Dear CEO" letter addressed to wholesale market broking firms highlighting its view of the key risks of harm that such brokerage firms pose for their clients and markets and the FCA's strategy for mitigating those risks. Firms are expected to consider the issues raised and take steps to mitigate risks where applicable.

The key drivers of harm have been identified as commission-based compensation packages (the "eat what you kill" model), inadequate governance arrangements, potential conflict of interest or compliance issues arising from the variety of workflows performed by such brokerages and risks of market abuse and financial crime, all of which may be linked to cultural issues. In the FCA's view, certain brokers in wholesale markets have failed to keep pace with legislative and regulatory developments and lag behind other sectors in embedding a culture of good conduct.

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The Working Group on Sterling Risk-Free Rates has published a discussion paper aimed at raising awareness for market participants of the conventions for referencing SONIA in new financial contracts. The paper focuses on the most significant conventions for contracts that reference SONIA directly. The paper concludes with a series of questions for market participants, who should submit responses by April 30, 2019.

Read more.

The Board of Supervisors of the European Banking Authority has nominated José Manuel Campa (Global Head of Regulatory Affairs at Santander) as the new Chair of the EBA. Subject to any objection by the European Parliament within one month, José Manuel Campa will succeed Andrea Enria as the new Chair of EBA for a renewable term of five years.

View the EBA announcement.

The European Commission issued a call for advice to each of the European Supervisory Authorities requesting evidence and possible advice on potential undue short-term pressure by financial service participants on corporations. The call for advice relates to Action 10 of the EU's Sustainable Finance Action Plan, which aims to foster transparency and long-termism in financial and economic activity by exploring possible drivers of undue short-termism. The Commission wants the ESA's report to: (i) provide evidence of any short-termism and, if any, the consequences thereof; (ii) assess the drivers of such short-termism, including the effects of regulation on financial market participants, for example, the guidance on remuneration practices; (iii) identify existing regulations that either mitigate or exacerbate short-term pressures; and (iv) evaluate the need for regulatory or policy action and propose specific areas where action is needed.

The Commission considers that pressure of this kind could lead corporations to overlook long-term risks and opportunities, such as those related to climate change and other factors related to sustainability. Companies facing short-term pressure could, as a result, forgo investment in areas important for a successful transition towards a sustainable economy. The ESAs are due to publish their report in December 2019.

View the call for advice.

The U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the appointment of two external members to the Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee, namely Dame Colette Bowe and Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia. They will replace Richard Sharp and Martin Taylor, who are stepping down at the end of Q1 2019 and Q2 2019, respectively.

The FPC, established in 2013, seeks to identify, monitor and take action to remove or reduce systemic risk in the U.K. financial system, while simultaneously protecting and enhancing its resilience. The FPC consists of six BoE staff and five external members selected for their experience and expertise in financial services.

Dame Jayne-Anne and Dame Colette will start their three years of service before the FPC's Q2 and Q3 meetings, respectively.

View the announcement.

The Financial Conduct Authority has published its final document, entitled "FCA Mission: Approach to Authorisation," explaining the purpose of authorization and the FCA's approach to it. The paper sets out details of the FCA's approach to: (i) evaluating whether firms meet the requisite Threshold Conditions and assessing whether individuals are "fit and proper"; (ii) how the FCA uses authorization to promote competition; and (iii) revoking authorization.

Read more.

The Financial Stability Board has announced the appointment of Randal K. Quarles (Governor and Vice Chairman for Supervision at the U.S. Federal Reserve System) as its new Chair and Klaas Knot (President of De Nederlandsche Bank) as its Vice Chair for a three-year term starting on December 2, 2018.  Klass Knot will succeed Randal K. Quarles as Chair on December 2, 2021 for the next three-year term.

The current FSB Chair, Mark Carney, will step down on December 1, 2018 after seven years of leadership. 

View the press release. 

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors has sued the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to prevent it from granting charters for special purpose national banks to non-depository FinTech companies. The CSBS is the nationwide organization of state banking regulators in the United States.

The CSBS filed the lawsuit upon the OCC’s announcement on July 31, 2018 that it would begin accepting these applications. The CSBS previously sued the OCC over its ability to provide SPNB charters in April 2017. The federal district court in D.C., however, dismissed the first suit for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and ripeness, stating that the OCC had not decided whether to grant SPNB charters to FinTech firms at that time.

Read more.

The European Commission has published a Communication, outlining its work plan for 2019. The Communication is addressed to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. The Communication discusses the ongoing challenges for the EU in the run-up to the European Parliamentary elections and the post-Brexit Summit in Sibiu at which a new multi-annual framework for the EU27 will be finalized.

Separately published Annexes to the Communication relating to: (i) new initiatives; (ii) REFIT initiatives; (iii) priority pending proposals; (iv) legislative initiatives that have been withdrawn; and (v) a list of envisaged repeals. Priority pending proposals of particular relevance to financial institutions include legislative proposals relating to the forthcoming sustainable finance package, cross-border distribution of collective investment schemes, crowdfunding, amendments to the European Market Infrastructure Regulation, prudential regulation and supervision of investment firms and a proposed amending regulation relating to minimum loss coverage for non-performing exposures.

Read more.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published its Annual Work Programme for 2019, dated September 26, 2018. ESMA sets out its focus areas for 2019 and provides details of expected outputs within each of the areas. ESMA also indicates that a number of pieces of EU legislation may be reviewed. These include the Market Abuse Regulation and the clearing obligation under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation, in addition to the reviews that have already been announced.

Read more.

The U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office has announced that it will be restructuring and expanding its management team with two new senior appointments:
 

1. A new Head of Intelligence to enable the SFO to move to a more proactive approach to sourcing new cases. This appointment will enable the Head of Investigations to focus on advising on investigative strategy and leading the professional development of investigators.
2. A new Head of Corporate Services to manage the finance, human resources, procurement and facilities management functions. This new appointment will enable the General Counsel to focus on legal matters.

The recruitment process for the new roles will run concurrently with recruitment of an appropriate replacement for the SFO's current General Counsel, who will be leaving the SFO later in the year after six years.

View the SFO press release.

The U.S.-U.K. Financial Regulatory Working Group has issued a statement following its inaugural meeting held on September 12, 2018 in London. Participants discussed the outlook for financial regulatory reforms and future priorities, including possible areas for deeper regulatory cooperation to facilitate further financial services activity between U.S. and U.K. markets. Participants also discussed Brexit-related issues, including: (i)  U.S.-U.K. financial regulatory issues resulting from the U.K.’s exit from the EU;  and (ii) the implications of Brexit for financial stability and cross-border financial regulation, including contractual continuity and potential cliff-edge risks.

The Working Group was established in April 2018 to serve as a forum for staff from the U.S. Department of the Treasury and HM Treasury and financial regulatory authorities to exchange views on the regulatory relationship between the U.S. and the U.K. Its objectives are to further financial regulatory cooperation, improve transparency, reduce regulatory uncertainty, identify possible cross-border implementation issues, address regulatory arbitrage and work towards achieving compatibility of U.S. and U.K. laws and regulations.

The next meeting of the Working Group will be held in the first half of 2019 in Washington, D.C.

View the statement. 

HM Treasury has published a press release announcing that Bank of England Governor Mark Carney will remain in his position for an extended term until January 31, 2020. The extension of Dr. Carney's term will ensure continuity at the BoE until Brexit is completed. A new governor would be appointed during Autumn 2019 after the terms for the U.K.'s withdrawal and the framework for the future U.K.-EU partnership have been agreed.

Sir Jon Cunliffe, BoE Deputy Governor with responsibility for financial stability, has also been re-appointed for a term from November 1, 2018 to October 2023.

View the HM Treasury press release.

View the correspondence between Dr. Carney and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. 

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has issued a press release announcing the appointment of Sheldon Mills as its new director of competition. Mr. Mills is currently senior director, mergers and state aid at the Competition and Markets Authority. Mr. Mills will take up his role in November 2018.

View the FCA press release.

The U.S. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Announced that David Wilcox, the director of the Federal Reserve Board’s Division of Research and Statistics, would retire at the end of the year.  Mr. Wilcox has served as the director of the division for 7 years, and in his 30 years of service has also held positions on the staff of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, as assistant secretary for economic policy at the Treasury Department and as deputy director of the Division of Research and Statistics.

View full text of the Federal Reserve Press.

The Financial Stability Board has launched a thematic peer review on implementation of the Legal Entity Identifier and is inviting feedback on implementation of the LEI at the same time. The objective of the LEI system is for unique identifiers to be held by all legal entities participating in financial markets across the globe. It is envisaged that the LEI system will lead to better data aggregation, enhance systemic risk monitoring and reduce costs to market participants.

Using the peer review, the FSB will: (i) consider the approaches and strategies used by FSB members to implement the LEI, including its adoption for regulatory requirements; (ii) assess whether current levels and rates of LEI adoption are sufficient to support the ongoing and anticipated needs of FSB member authorities; (iii) identify the challenges in further advancing the implementation and use of the LEI; and (iv) if appropriate, make recommendations for addressing any challenges.

Read more.

Following a consultation that ran between November 2017 and February 2018, the Bank of England has published a policy statement on the procedure and necessary revisions to existing policies and procedures required for the establishment of an Enforcement Decision Making Committee.

The EDMC has been established as a response to a recommendation from HM Treasury arising from its review of enforcement decision-making at the U.K. financial regulators. HM Treasury had recommended the establishment of a functionally-independent decision-making committee composed of independent members with expertise suited to the Prudential Regulation Authority's regulatory focus. The BoE has gone beyond HM Treasury's original recommendation and, going forward, the EDMC will be the BoE's decision-making body in contested enforcement cases that relate to all areas in which the BoE has enforcement powers (that is, prudential regulation, financial market infrastructure, resolution and note issuances). It will ensure the necessary functional separation between the BoE's investigation teams and decision-makers.

Alongside the Policy Statement, the BoE has published revised statements of policy and procedures reflecting the EDMC's establishment. These cover the EDMC's remit and operation and the selection, appointment, remuneration and governance of EDMC members. The BoE has also issued a press release announcing its appointment of six EMDC members. Members are appointed for renewable, fixed, three-year periods and cannot serve more than two consecutive terms.

Read more.

Randal Quarles, current Vice Chairman for Supervision, was sworn in for his second term as a member of the U.S. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.  Vice Chairman Quarles’s term as Vice Chairman for Supervision ends in 2021, while his term as a member of the Federal Reserve Board ends in 2032.

View full text of the Federal Reserve Board press release.

The EU Single Resolution Board has announced that Sr. Mauro Grande, Board Member and Director of Resolution Strategy and Cooperation, intends to leave his position. Sr. Grande has been with the SRB since its inception in March 2015. Sr. Grande will vacate the position once a successor is appointed, which is expected in the next few months. The European Commission and the SRB have jointly published a vacancy notice and applications for the position can be made until September 12, 2018.

View the SRB's announcement.

The Financial Conduct Authority has published its Approach to Consumers alongside a discussion paper on the potential introduction of a new duty of care and possible alternative approaches. The Approach to Consumers forms part of a series of formal approach documents explaining the FCA's approach to regulation in more depth. It should be read alongside the FCA's Mission document, which was first published in October 2016 and most recently updated in November 2017.

The Approach to Consumers sets out the FCA's approach to regulating for retail customers. The document sets out the FCA's vision for well-functioning markets that work for consumers, the relevant regulatory and legal framework, when and how the regulator will act to protect consumers, the FCA's policy position on key issues and its strategy for ensuring that its consumer protection objective is advanced with the greatest impact.

Read more.

The draft Business Contract Terms (Assignment of Receivables) Regulations 2018 have been laid before Parliament. The draft Regulations will invalidate terms in business contracts that prohibit or restrict the assignment of receivables, including terms that prevent the enforcement of a receivable. A receivable in this context is a right to be paid under a contract for the supply of goods, services or intangible assets. The Regulations will not apply if the person to whom the receivable is owed is a large enterprise or a special purpose vehicle.

Read more.

The Financial Conduct Authority has published a consultation paper setting out proposals to introduce a new directory of financial services workers.

In the consultation paper, the FCA explains that one effect of the extension of the Senior Management and Certification Regimes to all financial services firms will be that the Financial Services Register will contain the details of fewer individuals. Currently the Financial Services Register contains details of individuals who have been approved by the FCA or PRA. This includes individuals in senior management roles, individuals approved to hold controlled functions and individuals who hold customer-facing roles. However, this will change following the extension of SM&CR to all firms, because Individuals in customer functions, for example, will need to be assessed as fit and proper by firms rather than being approved by the regulators. Only individuals in specified senior manager roles will be approved by the relevant regulators and entered on the Register.

Read more.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he had nominated Kathleen Kraninger to serve as Director of the U.S. Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.  Ms. Kraninger is nominated to replace former CFPB Director Richard Cordray, who resigned in November of 2017.  Mick Mulvaney currently serves as Acting Director of the CFPB.

View full White House press release.

John C. Williams became the 11th President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.  President Williams replaces outgoing President William C. Dudley, whose last day as president was June 17, 2018.  In a statement given on his first day in office, President Williams noted that his goals as President included openness and transparency, objectivity and independence of thought and a commitment to the diverse needs of constituents across the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s District.

View President Williams’s full statement.

HM Treasury has announced the appointment, by the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, of two new external members of the Prudential Regulation Committee for a three-year term: Professor Julia Black and Jill May. In addition, Norval Bryson has been re-appointed to the PRC for a further three-year term.

View the announcement.

The European Central Bank has announced the appointment of Petra Senkovic as Director General, in the Directorate General Secretariat to the Supervisory Board, from July 1, 2018. Ms. Senkovic has been acting Director General since February 2018. The appointment follows the reorganization of the ECB's banking supervision division.

View the announcement.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs approved the nominations of the Honorable Richard Clarida to be a Member and Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and Ms. Michelle Bowman to be a Member of the Federal Reserve Board. The approved nominations will now advance to the full U.S. Senate for confirmation votes.

View further information regarding the nominations.

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced that it had selected Bao Nguyen and Ted Dowd to serve as Deputy Chief Counsels in the OCC’s Office of the Chief Counsel.  Mr. Nguyen will serve as the Principal Deputy Chief Counsel and the OCC Law Department’s chief operating officer.  Mr. Nguyen will also supervise the Bank Activities and Structure and the Community and Consumer Law divisions, and the Northeast district counsel office.  Mr. Dowd will supervise the OCC’s Legislative and Regulatory Activities and Securities and Corporate Practices divisions, and the Central and Western district counsel offices.

View full text of the OCC press release.

Jelena McWilliams was sworn in as the 21st Chair of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Chair McWilliams succeeds Martin J. Gruenberg, who served as Chairman of the FDIC since November of 2012 and as a Member of the FDIC Board of Directors since August of 2005.

View full text of the FDIC press release.

The Bank of England has announced the appointment of Bradley Fried as Chair of the Court of the BoE, replacing Sir Anthony Habgood, as of July 1, 2018. The Court is the BoE's governing body that manages its affairs except for the formulation of monetary policy. In addition, the BoE announced the appointment of Diana Noble and Anne Glover as non-executive directors to the Court and that Tim Frost had rotated off the Court, each as of May 31, 2018.

View the announcement.

The U.S. Senate voted to confirm the nomination of Jelena McWilliams as Chair and Member of the Board of Directors of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

View ​Information regarding Chair Mc Williams’s nomination.

View confirmation of Member of the Board of Directors.

The European Commission has published a package of legislative reforms on sustainable finance. The aim of the package of reforms, which form part of the Commission's broader Capital Markets Union initiative, is to ensure that environmental, social and governance considerations are consistently integrated into the investment and advisory process across sectors. The proposed measures comprise:

(i) a proposed Regulation on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment. This will establish an EU-wide classification system for environmentally sustainable economic activities and ensure that investment strategies are oriented towards economic activities that genuinely contribute to achieving environmental objectives. The proposed Regulation will empower the European Commission to adopt delegated acts to specify technical screening criteria to assess the contribution of a given economic activity to a particular environmental objective as substantial. A list of six environmental objectives is set out in the proposed regulation, namely: climate change mitigation; climate change adaptation; sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources; transition to a circular economy, waste prevention and recycling; pollution prevention and control; and protection of healthy ecosystems (which includes biodiversity conservation).

Read more.

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a bulletin encouraging banks to offer responsible short-term small-dollar loans to help meet the credit needs of their customers.  The OCC reminded banks, however, that any short-term small-dollar lending should be done in accordance with three core lending principles, including:  (i) that all bank products should be consistent with safe and sound banking, treat customers fairly and comply with applicable laws and regulations, (ii) that banks should effectively manage the risks associated with the products they offer, including credit, operational, compliance and reputational risk, and (iii) that all credit products should be underwritten based upon reasonable policies and practices, including guidelines governing the amounts borrowed, frequency of borrowing and repayment requirements.  The OCC bulletin also lists a number of policies and procedures topics specific to short-term small dollar lending, including with respect to loan pricing and repayment terms, effective management of credit risk, loan servicing and timely reporting of repayment activities to credit bureaus.  In addition, the OCC bulletin encourages banks to discuss their plans to offer short-term small-dollar lending products with their OCC portfolio manager or other OCC supervisory authority, especially if the offering of these products represents a substantial deviation from a bank’s existing business plan.

View ​full text of the OCC bulletin.

The Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements has announced the re-election of Jens Weidmann, President of the Deutsche Bundesbank, as Chair of the BIS Board.

View the announcement.

Thomas M. Hoenig announced that, effective April 30, 2018, he was stepping down as Vice Chairman and Member of the Board of Directors of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.  Mr. Hoenig served a full six-year term at the FDIC, since joining in April of 2012. Prior to his service with the FDIC, Mr. Hoenig served as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and was a member of the Federal Open Market Committee.

View full text of the FDIC press release.

The European Commission has published a proposal for a Directive on the protection of persons reporting on breaches of Union law. Whistleblowers help prevent damage and detect threat or harm to the public interest that may otherwise remain hidden, but fear of retaliation can often discourage them from reporting concerns.

The importance of providing effective whistleblower protections for safeguarding the public interest has been acknowledged both at European and international level. At EU level, whistleblower protections are currently provided only for specific sectors and to varying degrees. This means that, in many situations, whistleblowers are not properly protected against retaliation. The proposed Directive will address this fragmentation by encompassing "the broadest possible range of categories of persons, who, by virtue of work-related activities (irrespective of the nature of these activities and whether they are paid or not), have privileged access to information about breaches." Areas covered include financial services, money laundering and terrorist financing.

Read more.

The U.S. Treasury Department and HM Treasury have issued a joint statement announcing the establishment of a Financial Regulatory Working Group. The Working Group will be a forum for treasury staff and financial regulatory authorities to exchange views on the regulatory relationship between the United States and the U.K. The objectives of the Working Group will be to further financial regulatory cooperation, improve transparency, reduce regulatory uncertainty, identify possible cross-border implementation issues, address regulatory arbitrage and work towards achieving compatibility of U.S. and U.K. laws and regulations.

View the statement.

President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Michelle Bowman and Richard Clarida to serve as Members of the U.S. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.  Ms. Bowman, currently the Kansas State Bank Commissioner, is to be nominated to serve as a Member of the Federal Reserve Board as the Community Bank Representative representing Region eight. She is being nominated to serve the remainder of a 14-year term that expires on January 31, 2020. Mr. Clarida, currently the Lowell Harriss Professor of Economics at Columbia University, is to be nominated to serve as Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board for a 4-year term, and to serve the remainder of a 14-year term as a Member of the Federal Reserve Board representing Region 1, expiring on January 31, 2022.

View full text of the White House press release.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that John E. Smith will be stepping down as director of the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control in early May 2018.  Mr. Smith’s 11-year career with OFAC includes serving as Acting Director/Director of OFAC since February 2015, and previously serving as OFAC’s Deputy Director and as an Associate Director.  OFAC Deputy Director Andrea M. Gacki will serve as Acting Director upon Mr. Smith’s departure.

View the full text of the Treasury Department announcement.

The Financial Conduct Authority has published a discussion paper on its proposed approach to using ex post impact evaluation to assess the impact of its work on consumers, firms and markets. The consultation paper sets out what the FCA means by ex post impact evaluation, why it is important to the FCA, the scope of ex post impact evaluations, how the FCA will select which work to evaluate, how such evaluations will be conducted and the key challenges involved in ex post impact evaluations. The FCA is seeking feedback on its proposed approach.

Responses to the discussion paper should be submitted by July 9, 2018.

View the discussion paper. 

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced that John C. Williams has been named its president and chief executive officer.  Mr. Williams currently serves as the president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, a position he has held since 2011.  Mr. Williams joined the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco in 2002, and prior to his appointment as president, served as executive vice president and director of research.  Mr. Williams has also served as a senior economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers.  Mr. Williams will begin as president and chief executive officer on June 18, 2018, succeeding current president William C. Dudley, who is retiring.

View Tte full text of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York announcement.

Jerome Powell was sworn in as Chairman of the US Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.  Mr. Powell also serves as Chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee.

View the Federal Reserve Board press release.

The Financial Conduct Authority has appointed Nausicaa Delfas as Executive Directive of International. The appointment creates a new role at the FCA and highlights the importance of developing the FCA's strategy for international engagement, especially in the lead up to the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

View the FCA's press release.

The United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs held a hearing for three individuals whose nominations to US federal financial institution regulator positions are pending.  The nominees and their respective positions are:  Ms. Jelena McWilliams to be Chairperson and a Member of the Board of Directors of the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Dr. Marvin Goodfriend to be a Member of the US Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; and Mr. Thomas E. Workman to be a Member of the US Financial Stability Oversight Council.

View transcript of Ms. McWilliam’s prepared statement.

View transcript of Dr. Goodfriend’s prepared statement.

View transcript of Mr. Workman’s prepared statement.

The US Senate voted 84-13 in favor of confirming Jerome Powell as the next Chair of the US Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.  During the confirmation vote, Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Mike Crapo, delivered a statement in favor of Mr. Powell’s nomination.  Mr. Crapo stressed the importance of the position of Federal Reserve Board Chair, and praised Mr. Powell for his prior experience, regulatory and market knowledge and track record.

View Mr. Crapo’s statement at Mr. Powell’s confirmation vote.

The US Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System announced its 2018 chair and deputy chair appointments for Federal Reserve Banks. Each year, the Federal Reserve Board appoints one member from each Federal Reserve Bank’s nine-member board of directors to serve as chair, and one member to serve as deputy chair.

View the Federal Reserve Board press release announcing the appointments.