Federal Reserve Vice President for Supervision Michelle W. Bowman Bloomberg has completed a reorganization of the agency’s banking supervision unit that it announced in October I mentioned Wednesday (June 24).
The reorganization is intended to focus oversight on core financial risks, according to the report, which cited a memo to staff from Bowman.
The changes will take effect on July 12 and will create four groups within the unit, including supervision; Financial research, risk and applications; Organization and policy; and business empowerment, according to the report.
The report highlighted the change, which will bring together the policy research and stress testing groups of the Banking Supervision Unit.
Regarding this change, the memo said, according to the report: “The result is to elevate the M&A applications function to a more prominent role, positioning the group to provide comprehensive economic analysis in support of the department’s broader objectives.”
It was reported in October 2025 that Bowman is expecting Supervision and reorganize to work with fewer management layers, renaming its operations unit the “Business Enablement Group” and creating a new position focused on industry engagement.
Bowman said at the time in a speech that the regulatory regime for banks had grown “expansively” in recent years, becoming overly complex, and imposing “significant and unnecessary costs” on banks and their clients.
“The regulatory framework for banks must strike a balance between encouraging economic growth and innovation while ensuring the safety, soundness and stability of the banking system,” Bowman said in his speech.
The October report said Bowman’s plans included a 30% reduction in the department’s headcount, cutting it from 500 to 350. The Bloomberg report on Wednesday said there was no mention of job cuts in the new memo about the reorganization.
It was reported on June 4 that Banking regulators They claim that reducing banking regulations and supervision would ignite economic activity without creating more systemic financial risks.
Top regulators from the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have reconsidered many banking rules put in place in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, claiming that the stricter standards prevented banks from being able to fully support the economy.
