New Fed official will recuse himself from Wells Fargo matters

The Federal Reserve Board on Friday said new vice chairman Randal Quarles will recuse himself from weighing in on any matters related to Wells Fargo, which has faced scrutiny in recent months over its sales practices and other missteps.

“While this action is voluntary and is not legally required, it is being taken to avoid even the potential appearance of a conflict of interest,” the Fed said.

Quarles was sworn in as vice chairman in November after being nominated by President Donald Trump. The Fed said he has divested all stock holdings related to Wells Fargo but chose to recuse himself because his extended family sold its interest in a Utah bank to Wells Fargo in 2000.

Quarles will not participate in decisions involving Wells Fargo but will continue to head up supervision and regulation in his role as vice chairman for supervision, the Fed said. These duties include developing supervisory policies and rules that apply to banks generally.

Wells is based in San Francisco but has its biggest employee hub in Charlotte.

This story was originally published December 15, 2017 at 1:55 PM with the headline "New Fed official will recuse himself from Wells Fargo matters."