Fed Reshapes Bank Oversight Unit to Target Core Financial Risks

Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle W. Bowman has completed a reorganization of the agency’s bank oversight unit that she announced in October, Bloomberg reported Wednesday (June 24).

The reorganization is meant to focus supervision on core financial risks, according to the report, which cited a staff memo from Bowman.

The changes will be effective July 12 and will create four groups within the unit, including Supervision; Financial Research, Risk & Applications; Regulation & Policy; and Business Enablement, the report said.

The report highlighted a change that will combine the bank oversight unit’s policy research and stress testing groups.

Of this change, the memo said, per the report: “The result is to elevate the M&A applications function to a more prominent role, and to position the group to deliver comprehensive economic analysis in support of the division’s broader objectives.”

It was reported in October 2025 that Bowman expects the supervision and regulation division to operate with fewer management layers, rename its operation unit the “business enablement group” and create a new position focused on industry engagement.

Bowman said at the time in a speech that the bank regulatory system had grown “extensively” in recent years, had become overly complicated, and had imposed “unnecessary and significant costs” on banks and their customers.

“The bank regulatory framework must strike a balance between encouraging economic growth and innovation while guaranteeing the safety, soundness and stability of the banking system,” Bowman said in the speech.

The October report said that Bowman’s plans included a 30% reduction in the division’s staff, cutting it from 500 to 350. Bloomberg’s Wednesday report said there was no mention of job cuts in the new memo about the reorganization.

It was reported June 4 that bank regulators argue that scaling back bank rules and oversight will spark economic activity without creating more systemic financial risks.

Chief regulators from the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have reconsidered and relaxed several bank rules established in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, contending that tougher standards have kept banks from being able to fully support the economy.