Fed's Bowman on Stamping Out Debanking (Full)

US Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said she’s keeping her focus on the regulatory portfolio she has now, including plans to overhaul big-bank capital rules and to stamp out so-called debanking.

“I have a big agenda. We’re moving through it quickly,” the Fed’s top bank watchdog said during an interview with Michael McKee on Bloomberg Television. “Obviously we need to get the capital proposals completed in the near future.”

Bowman deflected when asked if she would be interested in leading the Fed as chair, rather than her current role of vice chair for supervision. Bowman is said to be under consideration for the top post by President Donald Trump.

“I’m really focused on the job that I’m doing,” the central bank’s top bank watchdog said. The Fed is reviewing various capital rules and plans to re-propose some key measures, but those proposals aren’t expected to be altered by the choice of a new chairman, she said.

Bowman has kicked off the process for putting together a new risk-based capital rule that would be less burdensome on the biggest US banks than a Biden-era plan. Bloomberg has reported that regulators are largely throwing out the original 1,087-page version proposed two years ago, and will aim to unveil a new plan as soon as the first quarter of 2026.

The latest plans are being informed by a conference that Bowman held in July as part of a holistic review of bank capital rules, Bloomberg reported. That effort is meant to ensure overall capital mandates are integrated with other proposals that officials are considering, such as easing a key leverage ratio rule.

The Fed previously promised that its examiners would no longer consider reputation risk as part of its bank exams, following calls from some bank groups and Republican lawmakers to end a practice that critics have viewed as unfair.

Trump has criticized debanking, the practice of depriving some individuals and businesses of banking services, as being motivated by ideological reasons. But some consumer advocates say that issue is overblown and question whether there is evidence of such cases that bank watchdogs have forced lenders to stop serving businesses solely for ideological reasons.

Earlier this month, he signed an executive order that requires banking regulators to remove reputation risk from their guidance and training materials, and identify banks that unlawfully denied financial services to customers. That came after the president said banks had discriminated against him in the past.

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