US Democratic lawmaker Warren presses Fed official over conflicts

By Chris Prentice

NEW YORK, March 25 (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday pressed top Federal Reserve official and former veteran Wall Street bank attorney Randall Guynn to explain how he is handling potential conflicts of interest in his new role, according to a letter reviewed by Reuters.

Reuters was first to report last month that Guynn, who worked for the biggest U.S. banks during his 40-year career at law firm Davis Polk, has been tapped to be director of the Fed's supervision and regulation division, a powerful Fed position policing the industry. He will report to Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman.

The supervision and regulation division is responsible for the Fed's broad oversight of the banking sector, which includes setting rules for and examining the nation's largest, most complex financial institutions.

Bowman initially brought Guynn in as an adviser in 2025 to help execute a sweeping overhaul of banking rules and supervision practices that were introduced following the 2008 financial crisis. The overhaul is part of a broader deregulatory push by President Donald Trump's administration, which says red tape is hurting economic growth.

"These matters almost certainly implicate the interests of your former clients, and some of these topics are matters on which you directly represented clients," Warren wrote to Guynn in the letter dated March 25.

Warren pressed Guynn on how he has so far handled potential conflicts and for details of when he has recused himself.

A Fed spokesperson confirmed receipt of the letter, but declined to comment further.

Guynn previously led the Financial Institutions Group at Davis Polk, which he joined in 1986, and is widely recognized as an expert on banking regulation. He has represented a raft of banks and other financial institutions, including the nation's eight largest lenders and multiple industry trade groups, and counselled them on regulatory proposals, according to his Davis Polk biography.

His appointment to be director of the supervision and regulation division marks a departure for the central bank, which since at least 1977 put long-tenured Fed career staff in that role, according to a Reuters review of Fed press releases.

Guynn is due to testify at a hearing held by lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Thursday.

(Reporting by Chris Prentice; Editing by Nia Williams)