Randal Quarles

Randal Quarles served as the Federal Reserve's first Vice Chair for Supervision from 2017 to 2021, a role created by Dodd-Frank but only filled under the Trump administration. He oversaw the regulatory relief provisions of the 2018 Economic Growth Act, which raised the threshold for enhanced prudential standards. Quarles modernized the stress testing program, making it more transparent and less opaque. He was a founder of the Cynosure Group investment firm and has been involved in private equity and financial policy advisory work before and after his Fed tenure. Prior to the Fed, he served as Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance under President George W. Bush and as a partner at the law and investment firm Davis Polk and at Cynosure. His philosophy on regulation emphasized rules-based transparency over supervisory discretion, arguing that reducing regulatory unpredictability encouraged more efficient capital allocation. As chair of the Financial Stability Board during part of his tenure, he contributed to international standard-setting on resolution frameworks, leverage ratios, and climate-related financial risk. After leaving the Fed, he continued work in private equity and policy research, including writing on bank regulatory reform.