Michael Barr to step down as top Wall Street regulator

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Michael Barr is stepping down as Wall Street’s top regulator but will stay on as a governor at the Federal Reserve, the US central bank announced on Monday.

Barr will vacate his role as vice-chair for supervision at the end of February, cutting short a four-year term that began in July 2022. He will stay on as a governor until that term is up in January 2032, meaning there will be no new vacancy on the seven-member board of governors.

In a statement, Barr said he was stepping down over concerns that a “risk of a dispute over the position could be a distraction” to the Fed’s goal to safeguard the US financial system.

“In the current environment, I’ve determined that I would be more effective in serving the American people from my role as governor,” he said.

His decision comes amid intense legal pressure from US banking lobby groups over how the Fed oversees the industry. They filed a lawsuit in December against the central bank over its framework for stress tests, which aim to identify vulnerabilities at specific organisations in times of economic or financial strain.

This is a developing story