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Fed Announces Formation of Community Advisory Council

Fed Community Advisory Council [1]The U.S. Federal Reserve Board announced the formation of a 15-member Community Advisory Council (CAC) to provide information, advice, and recommendations to the Board on emerging economic issues and relevant policy matters, according to an announcement [2] from the Fed.

While the CAC will advise the Fed on a broad range of issues and offer diverse perspectives on economic circumstances of different consumers and communities, the council's particular focus will be on concerns of low- and moderate-income areas. Fed Chair Janet Yellen and other officials have been meeting with representatives from these areas for the last few months to hear their concerns.

In a sign that the Fed is becoming more community-oriented, President Obama announced earlier this month [3] the nomination of Allan Landon, a community banker, to fill one of the two empty seats on the Fed's seven-seat Board of Governors. The Fed has not had a governor with community banking experience since Elizabeth Duke retired in August 2013.

Members of the CAC will be selected by the Fed through a public nomination process and will serve staggered three-year terms. The first meeting between the CAC and the Fed is planned for the fourth quarter of 2015, and the council will subsequently meet semiannually.

The Fed previously had a consumer advisory council to advise the Board on consumer regulatory issues, but that council dissolved in 2011 when Dodd-Frank charged the formation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with issues regarding consumer protection and regulation.