The Federal Reserve’s top banking cop has kicked off what some executives hope will be the start of an increased focus on community lenders.
Michelle Bowman, the Fed’s vice chair for supervision, is a fifth-generation banker who often touts the importance of these smaller institutions — even keeping a red baseball cap in her office at one point with the words “make community banks great again.” But since she took the post in June, she hasn’t unveiled plans for the smaller lenders.
Michelle Bowman, vice chair for supervision at the US Federal Reserve, during the Federal Reserve Integrated Review of the Capital Framework for Large Banks Conference in Washington on July 22, 2025
Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg
Trade groups, including the Independent Community Bankers of America, were eyeing a Thursday conference ...