New York Fed makes rounds, takes names in search for next chief

New York

IT MAY BE the trickiest job to fill in central banking. And as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York search committee casts a wide net to find a replacement for its outgoing president, William Dudley, the wish list is getting long.

Interviews with 10 members of the Fed's advisory boards, which the committee is consulting, suggest they want a president with market expertise, crisis-management chops, strong leadership abilities, an eye on inequality and an ear for regional trends. The jury is out on whether he or she should be an economist, even though the New York Fed president traditionally plays a big role in guiding US monetary policy. Some advisers are pushing for a woman or a minority and one of the search firms hired by the committee is focusing on just such picks.