Fed backs plan to centralise back-office functions
Updated
Updated · The Wall Street Journal · May 8
Fed backs plan to centralise back-office functions
15 articles · Updated · The Wall Street Journal · May 8
Governor Christopher Waller said on Friday the proposal, devised by the 12 regional reserve-bank presidents, would shift some human resources and IT work into individual reserve banks.
He argued duplicating such functions across the Washington-based Board of Governors and regional banks is wasteful, though details of the reorganisation still need to be worked out.
The move fits a broader drive for a leaner central bank after plans to cut staffing by 10%, as likely incoming chair Kevin Warsh pushes to shrink the Fed's footprint.
As the Fed centralizes operations to cut waste, does it risk creating a single, catastrophic point of failure for the economy?
With AI replacing local roles, is the Fed losing the regional economic insights that have guided it for over a century?