On Nov. 8, 2021, Randal K. Quarles submitted his resignation as a member of the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) to President Joe Biden, effective sometime “during or around the last week” of December 2021, when his term expires. The upshot of Quarles’ resignation is that President Biden may be able to fill as many as four seats on the seven-member Federal Reserve Board (FRB) within the next few months, giving him a key opportunity to change the direction of monetary policy and financial regulation.

About Randal K. Quarles

Appointed by former President Donald Trump, Quarles has served on the FRB since Oct. 13, 2017, and has been its first vice chair for supervision, in which post he oversaw the supervision and regulation of financial firms that are under the FRB’s jurisdiction. His term in this post expired in October 2021.

Quarles also has been serving as chair of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), an international body established by the Group of 20 (G20) to ensure the resilience of the global financial system. His three-year term as FSB Chair ends on Dec. 2, 2021.

Prior to joining the FRB, Quarles was the founder and managing director of the Cynosure Group, a private investment firm. He also held several senior positions at the Treasury Department under the administrations of both George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, among them under secretary for domestic finance. He also has served as the U.S. executive director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Quarles was also a partner at the Carlyle Group, which is another private equity firm, and, prior to that, at international law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell.

The Fed’s news release on Quarles’ resignation states: “He played a central role in ensuring the safe operation of both the domestic and international financial systems during the stress of the COVID event.”