The Bank-Friendly Eighth Governor of the Fed

The Influential Figure At The Fed You Haven't Been Hearing About
Scott Alvarez, general counsel for the U.S. Federal Reserve, testifies at a hearing of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC), in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010. Former Wachovia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Robert Steel told the panel probing the bank's near-collapse in 2008 he was ordered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to head off a meltdown of the banking system by selling his company. Photographer: Brendan Smialowski/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Scott Alvarez, general counsel for the U.S. Federal Reserve, testifies at a hearing of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC), in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010. Former Wachovia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Robert Steel told the panel probing the bank's near-collapse in 2008 he was ordered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to head off a meltdown of the banking system by selling his company. Photographer: Brendan Smialowski/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The debate over whether Janet Yellen or Lawrence H. Summers will be the next Federal Reserve chairman — or some dark horse, Timothy F. Geithner perhaps? — is doubtlessly important.

But few outside the arcane world of banking rules understand that on matters of financial regulation and reform, the Federal Reserve staff is just as powerful, maybe even more.

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