This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The director of a Salt Lake City-based investment firm is expected to land a position in President Donald Trump's administration overseeing the largest U.S. banks.
The Wall Street Journal, which spoke with a senior official "familiar with the matter," reports that Randal Quarles is the president's anticipated pick as the Federal Reserve's vice chairman for bank supervision.
Quarles previously served in President George W. Bush's administration as undersecretary of the Treasury for two years, though he'd been with the department for four years prior to that, as well as during President George H.W. Bush's time in office.
The Salt Lake Tribune could not immediately reach Quarles for comment Friday. His office said he was out of town.
After leaving his federal post, Quarles co-founded the Cynosure Group, a private equity firm in Salt Lake City, with Spencer P. Eccles. Prior to that, he was a partner of The Carlyle Group.
The vice chairman position — one of three vacancies on the Federal Reserve board — was created in 2010 by the Dodd-Frank Act. Former President Barack Obama never appointed anyone to the position, so if selected and confirmed by the Senate, Quarles would be the first.
He would likely play a large role in undoing some of the regulations instituted after the 2008 financial crisis that Trump has targeted as unnecessary.
Quarles previously told Bloomberg Television in 2015 that "if you're going to be transparent in an activity like the Fed, you have to be much more rule-based in what you're doing."