The deputy treasury secretary was in Washington, DC, on October 2, 2014,
The Federal Reserve is arguably the nation's most powerful banking regulator and will be nominated by President Joe Biden to be the next vice chair for supervision, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The person who asked not to be named said that Biden will nominate Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson to be Federal Reserve governors.
The Senate Banking Committee is in charge of vetting presidential appointments to the central bank. Cook would be the first Black woman to serve on the Fed's board if the Senate confirms her nominations.
The committee held a hearing on Tuesday for Powell, who was nominated by Biden to a second term. Biden picked Brainard to be the central bank's next vice chair, and the committee held a hearing for him on Thursday.
Biden looks to make good on Democrats' promises to reinforce laws passed in the aftermath of the financial crisis and restore aspects of a rule named for former Fed Chair Paul Volcker that had restricted banks' ability to trade for their own profit, when he chooses Raskin for the vice chair for supervision
The deputy secretary of the Treasury under the Obama administration was the former governor of the Fed and had experience at the central bank.
Cook was nominated to be the governor well in advance of Jefferson's name coming up in closed-door discussions. CNBC reported in May that she was the top choice to be the governor of Ohio.
Cook is a professor at Michigan State University. Several of Biden's top economists are alumni of the Center for Equitable Growth, a progressive Washington-based think tank. She was a senior economist in the Council of Economic Advisors.
The Fed and other financial regulators have been pressed by Raskin to take a more proactive role in addressing the financial risks posed by climate change. Jamie Raskin is married to a congressman.
The Volcker Rule was relaxed by the former Vice Chair for Supervision, who left the Fed, because of his role in reducing capital requirements for banks with less than $700 billion in assets.
The Fed believes that the industry is well-capitalized and not in need of some of the more restrictive measures enacted after the crisis. Many Democrats, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have pushed back and said that the banking sector is more vulnerable to shocks and liable to excess risk taking.
The Fed has started to wind down its easy-money policies in the face of a recovering employment and the highest level of year-over-year inflation since 1982, and the nominations come at a precarious time.
In times of normal economic activity, the Fed adjusts short-term interest rates to maximize employment.
The Fed can cut borrowing costs when it wants the economy to heat up to spur the housing market and broader economic activity. If it is concerned about an overheating economy or unruly inflation, it can raise interest rates to make borrowing more expensive.
In times of economic emergency, the central bank can use its powers to purchase bonds and keep borrowing costs low, and boost financial markets with easy access to cash. The arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 worked to calm traders and soothe companies concerned about liquidity.
Bond yields fall when prices rise. The prospect of higher rates can have the opposite effect on markets.
The release of the Fed's latest meeting minutes earlier in January, which showed several officials in favor of cutting the balance sheet and raising rates soon, sparked a sell-off on Wall Street.
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