巴尔从2022年7月19日、即拜登任美国总统一年半以后开始担任主管金融监管的美联储副主席。美联储的声明称，他已经向总统拜登递交辞呈。声明援引巴尔的表态称，监管副主席时在全球金融危机爆发后设立的职位，旨在提升美联储对金融体系监管的责任感、透明度和问责，并暗示，他辞职是为了避免可能同特朗普政府发生法律纠纷。According to the Federal Reserve's statement, Barr's resignation will take effect no later than February 28, and he will continue to serve as a Federal Reserve Governor until the term ends. The statement implies that he is stepping down as Vice Chairman of Supervision more than a year early to avoid potential legal disputes with the Trump administration. The media reports that Barr's decision does not indicate that Powell will also step down from the position of Federal Reserve Chairman early, but it casts a shadow over the prospects of the USA implementing new banking regulations that increase capital requirements.
The signal for Trump's 2.0 move to deregulate may have arrived: Michael Barr, the Vice Chair of Financial Supervision at the Federal Reserve, will resign shortly after Trump takes office later this month.
On January 6, Monday, Eastern Time, the Federal Reserve's official website issued a statement saying that Barr will step down as Vice Chair for Supervision, effective February 28, 2025, or earlier after his successor is confirmed. Barr will continue to serve as a member of the Federal Reserve Board. In other words, although Barr will no longer serve as Vice Chair for Supervision next month, he will still remain a Federal Reserve Governor until the current term ends in January 2032.
Barr began his role as Vice Chair for Supervision at the Federal Reserve on July 19, 2022, one and a half years after Biden took office as President of the USA. The Federal Reserve's statement noted that he has submitted his resignation to President Biden. The statement cites Barr's remarks that the Vice Chair for Supervision position was established after the global financial crisis to enhance the Federal Reserve's sense of responsibility, transparency, and accountability in financial system supervision, and it suggests his resignation is to avoid potential legal disputes with the Trump administration.
The statement reads, Barr said:
"The risk of controversy associated with the Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision position may distract us from our mission. In the current environment, I have decided to serve the American people more effectively as a Board Member."
The Wall Street Journal pointed out that the Trump administration's leadership had criticized the Federal Reserve's aggressive stance on bank regulation, and Barr has been a major advocate for strengthened regulation. The differing positions have led to speculation that Trump may attempt to dismiss Barr once he assumes office, while Barr might raise a lawsuit to prevent it.
More than a month ago, Barr directly responded to the speculation about Trump's potential dismissal. During testimony before the House Financial Services Committee in late November 2024, a Republican member asked Barr what he would do if Trump sought to dismiss him from his role as Vice Chair for Supervision. Barr replied at that time that, as Federal Reserve Chair Powell stated, the officials have fixed terms, and he plans to serve out his term.
According to Barr's statement at the time, he was supposed to plan to continue serving as Vice Chairman of Regulation until July 2026. However, the Federal Reserve's statement on Monday means Barr resigned more than a year early. The Wall Street Journal cited informed sources saying that Barr's resignation does not imply that Powell might also step down from the position of Chair of the Federal Reserve early.
The Federal Reserve's statement on Monday indicated that no significant decisions regarding banking regulation would be made until Barr's successor is confirmed. Barr's resignation means that Donald Trump could nominate someone from the existing Federal Reserve Directors to take on the role of financial regulator for the Fed during his term, thus gaining influence over the Fed's financial regulation.
Bloomberg reported that Barr's departure further shadows the prospects of a landmark regulatory scheme being pushed by U.S. regulators—the U.S. version of the Basel III banking regulatory rules. It was previously mentioned that the new banking regulatory scheme released by the Federal Reserve and other U.S. regulators in July 2023 requires banks with assets exceeding 100 billion dollars to increase their capital by about 16%, with JPMorgan, Citigroup, and seven other major banks potentially facing about a 19% increase in capital.
The above proposal aims to have large banks hold more capital as a buffer against future losses and financial crises, preventing bank bankruptcies and financial crises. Barr was a key figure in the negotiations related to this proposal. Media previously reported that following the 2023 proposal's release, the banking industry initiated an unprecedented aggressive lobbying effort against such high demands on the banking sector.
In September 2024, reports stated that regulators agreed to a comprehensive revision of the proposed package of rules, with the new scheme requiring large banks to only increase their capital by 9%. However, subsequent reports indicated that this relaxation of requirements faced opposition from several directors at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), with at least three out of five directors opposing it.
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