Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Appoints Neel Kashkari

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Neel Kashkari will become the 13th president and chief executive officer of The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

The role of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank and Kashkari

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis is one of twelve regional Reserve Banks that, with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., make up the Federal Reserve System. It is responsible for the Ninth Federal Reserve District which is comprised of North and South Dakota, Montana, northwestern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and of course, the state of Minnesota where it is located.

Along with the other twelve regional Reserve Banks and Board of Governors, it is responsible for its part in setting the national monetary policy as well as providing payment services to the U.S. government and varied financial institutions.

Narayana Kocherlakota, who served as president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis since 2009, announced that he wouldn’t look to continue his tenure in December 2014. His present, and now last term, as head of the bank will end in February 2016.

The 42-year-old Kashkari holds both a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He also earned an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. His work in both the private and public sectors essentially began when with worked as an aerospace engineer at TRW Corporation. From there he was vice president at Goldman Sachs in San Francisco. Kashkari left Goldman Sachs he went to work for the U.S. Department of the Treasury from 2006 to 2009 first serving as senior adviser to Secretary Henry Paulson before working as assistant secretary of the Treasury.

Significant in this is the fact that with the appointment 4 of 5 Fed presidents voting in 2017 will be former Goldman Sachs employees.

Returning to the private sector, Kashkari was managing director and member of the executive office at PIMCO. In 2013, he resigned at sought the governorship of California ultimately losing in the general election to present governor Jerry Brown.

Minneapolis Fed Makes its announcement

“The class B and C directors were unanimous and enthusiastic in appointing Mr. Kashkari to be the next president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Mr. Kashkari is the right person to build on the Minneapolis Fed’s core strengths and successfully lead the Bank into the future,” said Randall Hogan, chairman of the Minneapolis Fed’s board of directors and co-chair of the search committee.

“Mr. Kashkari is an influential leader whose combined experience in the public and private sectors makes him the ideal candidate to head the Minneapolis Fed,” said MayKao Hang, incoming chair of the Minneapolis Fed’s board of directors and co-chair of the search committee.  “We were fortunate to have outstanding candidates during our national search. Mr. Kashkari stood out because of his inspiring leadership skills, solutions-oriented nature, collaborative style and deep commitment to public service,” she continued.

Kashkari makes his own statement

“I am truly honored to have the opportunity to lead the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. I look forward to working with the Bank’s dedicated staff and continuing the Bank’s long-standing tradition of excellent service to the Ninth Federal Reserve District and to the nation,” Kashkari said. “The Minneapolis Fed has built a strong reputation for economic research and thought leadership as well as excellence in Bank operations. I am delighted that I will be working with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis team to build on the Bank’s many achievements.”

Others are less impressed…

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