US Senate approves Trump's pick as Fed regulatory chief

The nation's big banks, under the microscope for almost a decade in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, got some relief Thursday when the Senate approved Randal Quarles, an investment fund manager and former Republican Treasury official, to be the nation's top official in charge of bank supervision.

As a Fed governor, he will also sit on the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets U.S. monetary policy.

The Senate voted 65-32 to approve Quarles, a former Treasury assistant secretary for domestic finance and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP partner for a seat on the Fed's board of governors. The position was created under the Dodd-Frank reforms that sought to make the banking system safer after it almost collapsed during the financial crisis.

As Quarles joins the Fed board, he'll become the first of several central bank members President Donald Trump will select as the White House moves to reshape Wall Street oversight and guide an economy in its ninth year of expansion.

In particular, Quarles wrote in 2016 that raising banking reserve requirements was tantamount to raising the cost of borrowing.

With next week's departure of Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer, Trump will have three vacancies to fill at the central bank. "It is critical that Mr. Quarles begin his work at the Fed as soon as possible".

"I think it's very important to have a broad range of views around the table as we deliberate on policy actions", Yellen said.