Revolving Door: Ex-Fed President Richard Fisher Joining Barclays

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In another episode of “As the Revolving Door Turns”, Richard Fisher, the colorful ex-President of the Dallas Fed, announced on Monday he is joining megabank Barclays as a senior advisor for regulatory issues, markets, monetary policy and global trade. Multiple sources have noted that Barclays seems like a curious choice for Fisher, who developed a reputation as a strong advocate for small and regional banks that continue to struggle long after the financial crisis.

Keep in mind that Barclays purchased the North American operations of Lehman Brothers just days after the firm’s collapse in Sept. 2008, and was a key part of the financial crisis that led to the three-plus-year-long Great Recession. The purchase of Lehman greatly expanded Barclays U.S. investment banking operations in the United States and turned former CEO Bob Diamond into a major Wall Street banker. Barclays then suffered through a series of fines and sanctions relating to its trading practices, resulting in increased regulatory scrutiny as well as resignation of many senior execs, including Diamond.

Barclays noted Richard Fisher will join the firm on July 1st.

Statement from Barclays

“Richard’s appointment demonstrates the strength of our franchise and our dedication to providing clients with best in class service and differentiated insights,” Tom King, CEO of Barclays investment bank commented in a statement on Monday. “His exceptional knowledge and extensive experience in monetary policy, financial markets and services, global trade negotiations and regulatory matters will be of tremendous value to Barclay and to our clients.

More on Richard Fisher

Richard Fisher served as president of the Dallas branch of the Federal Reserve Bank, where he was employed for almost exactly 10 years.He resigned in March of this year. Before his tenure at the Fed, Fisher held senior government positions where he oversaw the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the U.S.-Korea Auto Agreement and other trade deals in Vietnam and Singapore. Sources note that Fisher was also a key negotiator during China’s ascension to the World Trade Organization a decade or so ago.

Since leaving the Fed three months ago, Richard Fisher had already joined the boards of AT&T and PepsiCo.

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