New York Fed President Dudley to Announce Early Retirement -- Update

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley is set to announce he will retire next year, around six months earlier than scheduled, and the announcement could come as soon as Monday, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The search for Mr. Dudley's successor will start immediately with the aim of finding a new president in mid-2018, after which time Mr. Dudley will retire, according to people familiar with the matter.

The decision has been long-planned and is unrelated to President Donald Trump's announcement Thursday that he would nominate central bank governor Jerome Powell to succeed Chairwoman Janet Yellen when her term as chief expires in February, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The coming announcement about Mr. Dudley was first reported by CNBC.

Mr. Dudley, who serves as vice chairman of the interest-rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, is one of the central bank's top policy makers, and he has been a close ally of Ms. Yellen in recent years.

The New York Fed is the most powerful of the central bank's 12 regional banks because of its role supervising some of the nation's biggest banks and implementing monetary policy.

Mr. Dudley, a former Goldman Sachs chief economist who took over the New York Fed in 2009, is serving a term that ends in January 2019.

Mr. Dudley is scheduled to give a speech at the Economic Club of New York on Monday.

The news about Mr. Dudley's plan comes amid considerable churn in the top leadership ranks of the Fed.

Just last month, Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer, another top Fed official and Yellen ally, stepped down last month and Randal Quarles, Mr. Trump's first nominee to the Fed board of governors, took office. Three other seats on the seven-member board are also open, giving the president an opportunity to remake its policy-making team.

A fourth seat on the board would open if Ms. Yellen decides to leave after ceding the helm as chairwoman. She could stay on as a governor, if she chooses, in a term that extends to 2024.

Several regional Fed banks that have seen their presidents exit in recent years have often found it to be a long process to replace their presidents. The Richmond Fed hasn't yet named a successor to former president Jeffrey Lacker, who resigned in April.

The regional banks' board of directors, who don't represent financial institutions regulated by the Fed, select new presidents, subject to the approval of the Board of Governors in Washington.

Write to Nick Timiraos at nick.timiraos@wsj.com and Michael S. Derby at michael.derby@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 05, 2017 12:40 ET (17:40 GMT)