Michael Barr, who was vice chair of supervision from July 2022 until earlier this year, stepped down from the role in February but remains a member of the Board of Governors.
"Bowman's nomination for vice chair for supervision is a gift to the banking industry," said Elyse Schupak, policy advocate with Public Citizen's climate program, in a statement on Tuesday. "Under her leadership we can expect loosening capital requirements, lax bank supervision, and neglect of emerging risks to the financial system, including from climate change."
According to Bloomberg, Bowman is expected to take a "lighter touch" to bank regulation compared to Barr.
Bowman, the former state bank commissioner of Kansas and former VP of Farmers & Drovers Bank in Kansas, has been a critic of a landmark plan to require banks to hold more capital. The plan, called "Basel III Endgame," is opposed by big banks that are lobbying against it, according to the think tank the Brookings Institution.
"I'd be excited to see Miki Bowman appointed," Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon toldFox News last week, after her likely appointment was reported by multiple outlets. "I think the industry would be excited."
Ben Cushing, director of the Sierra Club's sustainable finance campaign, also weighed in on the selection of Bowman.
"Major U.S. banks are exacerbating threats to financial stability and long-term economic growth through their continued financing of dirty energy and insufficient investment in clean energy. Regardless of changing political winds, the Federal Reserve has a duty to supervise and regulate these and other risky banking practices," Cushing said in a statement on Wednesday.
"At a time when climate-related financial risks are only growing, the Fed should be stepping up to protect the economy—not retreating under political pressure from climate deniers and Wall Street," he added.
