Michelle Bowman was recently sworn to duty as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, becoming the board’s first governor to fill a spot designated for someone with community banking experience.
Bowman, a bank commissioner for the state of Kansas, previously offered support of reducing the regulatory burden facing community-based financial institutions by better tailoring regulations.
“At the state level, I oversee banks that range in size from $7 million in assets with three employees to $3.2 billion in assets,” Bowman said while previously delivering testimony before the Senate Banking Committee. “All of those qualify by the federal standard as community banks. It’s important to be able to understand the burden on a staff of three to implement the same regulations that apply to much larger institutions.”
The regulatory environment created in the aftermath of crisis has disadvantaged community banks, said Bowman, who informed the Senate Banking Committee earlier this year she would work to ensure rules are appropriately tailored to size, complexity, and risk of institution if confirmed to the Federal Reserve Board.
Bowman’s addition to the board means the Federal Reserve still has two vacancies on its seven-member panel, officials said, noting Marvin Goodfriend’s nomination is pending before the Senate; while Nellie Liang, a former Federal Reserve research economist, has also been nominated to serve on the board, but has yet to receive a hearing from the Senate Banking Committee.