New York Fed President William Dudley to retire early as the Fed overhaul gains steam
- New York Fed President William Dudley is set to retire in mid-2018, earlier than planned.
- The news comes after President Donald Trump named Jerome Powell to succeed Janet Yellen as Fed chair last week.
- Dudley, a former partner at Goldman Sachs, ran the New York Fed's markets group during the depths of the 2008 financial crisis, and was a close Yellen ally.
One of the Federal Reserve's most influential policymakers, New York Fed President William Dudley, is preparing to retire earlier than planned, further setting the stage for a fresh slate of US central bankers next year.
"For someone who has always had an interest in public policy and service, leading the New York Fed and being a member of the FOMC has been a dream job," Dudley said in a statement Monday.
The news had been reported by several outlets on Sunday.
A search committee led by Sara Horowitz, chair of the New York Fed's Board of Directors, has started the process of finding Dudley's successor. It expects to complete the search by mid-2018.
Dudley, a former partner at Goldman Sachs Group Inc, ran the New York Fed's markets group during the depths of the financial crisis in late 2008 before taking the helm there in January 2009 for a 10-year term.
He has since steered a cautious and dovish path as vice chair of the Fed's policy-setting committee, and as a close ally of Fed Chair Janet Yellen and her predecessor Ben Bernanke.
Dudley's departure next year would likely come after U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee for chair, Fed Governor Jerome Powell, succeeds Yellen in February. Trump has three other seats to fill on the Fed's powerful Board of Governors, and a fourth if Yellen departs when her term as chair ends, giving the White House an unusually wide window to reshape the central bank.
Unlike governors, presidents of the Fed's 12 district banks are chosen by local boards, though they are approved by the Fed Board in Washington.
Dudley, as head of the New York headquarters, oversaw the Fed's accumulation of some $3.5 trillion in bonds in response to the crisis, as well as its decision to start shedding assets last month. His policy recommendations have proven cognizant of how financial markets were likely to react.
Trump's decision on Thursday not to reappoint Yellen to a second term broke with a decades-long Fed precedent.