FDIC Chair Says RFP Issued for Independent Monitor; Will Stay Until Successor Confirmed

During a question-and-answer session after the FDIC's Q1 2024 results briefing, reporters pressed the chairman about oversight, leadership and potential regulatory steps.

When asked by a Wall Street Journal reporter whether he would relinquish action-plan items until a third-party monitor was in place, the chair said, "We've actually issued a request for proposal for an independent monitor... the approval of the independent monitor will be undertaken by our board of directors." The chair added that the RFP had been circulated to all board members and that members had an opportunity to comment.

Asked why he decided to step down pending confirmation of a successor rather than immediately, the chair said, "Continues to serve until a successor is confirmed by the Senate. That's my intention." He said he would follow through on that commitment.

Reporters also asked about the agency's agenda on liquidity. The chair described liquidity management and prepositioning of high-quality collateral at Federal Reserve Banks as a focus for all three banking agencies and said consideration is being given to rulemaking that would require banks to preposition collateral to access the Fed's discount window and to reduce any market stigma associated with using it.

On the regulatory agenda more broadly, the chair said the agencies are working together on substantive changes to a notice of proposed rulemaking and that advancing the capital plan remained a priority.

The public briefing concluded with the chair offering to take additional questions from reporters and the moderator closing the livestream.