Uncertainty strikes the Fed after top regulator resigns

Daniel Tarullo, a member of the Federal Reserve Bank's board of governors, on Friday announced his intention to resign in April, a move that gives President Trump three seats to fill on the board. Tarullo took his position in 2009 and "led the Fed's work to craft a new framework for ensuring the safety and soundness of our financial system following the financial crisis," said Fed Chair Janet Yellen.

Trump is expected to choose a replacement with a less activist approach to regulation, particularly after the president last week signaled his interest in repealing some of the Dodd-Frank rules Tarullo helped enforce. Trump ordered the Treasury Department to review current financial regulations to bring them in line with a series of core principles, including "prevent[ing] taxpayer-funded bailouts" and "enabl[ing] American companies to be competitive with foreign firms."

With Tarullo out and Trump preparing to edit Dodd-Frank, there "is quite significant uncertainty about what's actually going to happen [at the Fed]. I don't think anyone quite knows," said Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer in a talk on Saturday. "It's a process which involves both the administration and the Congress in deciding fiscal policy."

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