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- Beth Hammack, a former Goldman Sachs executive, was just appointed Cleveland Fed president.
- Hammack succeeds Loretta Mester, known for her hawkish stance on inflation policies.
- She starts on August 21 and will vote in the September Fed meeting.
Longtime Goldman Sachs executive Beth Hammack, who left in February, is heading to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland as its next president.
She will take office on August 21 and vote on monetary policy decisions starting in September, the bank said Wednesday. She'll lead 1,100 employees in her new position.
Hammack replaces Loretta Mester, who is stepping down on June 30 after a decade as the Cleveland Fed's president. Mester is one of the US central bank's most hawkish chiefs, backing policies to combat inflation despite other risks to the economy.
Hammack will be the bank's 12th president and the fourth woman to lead the organization. She will be responsible for all bank activities, including monetary policy, financial institution supervision, and payment services.
Before co-heading global financing at Goldman, Hammack was the firm's global treasurer, global head of short-term macro trading, and global head of repo trading. She joined the company in 1993 as an analyst in capital markets.
The Cleveland Fed announced a nationwide search for a new president in November. Until Hammack's start date, first vice president Mark Meder will serve as interim president.
Hammack joins the Federal Reserve System at a time when it is heavily debating when to begin interest rate cuts. The central bank raised borrowing costs from close to zero to around 5.5% between March 2022 and July 2023 and has kept them at that level since. Earlier this month, Chair Jerome Powell warned that rates will have to stay higher for longer to help ease price pressures.
The Cleveland Fed is part of the Federal Reserve System, which regulates monetary policy and banking institutions. It comprises 12 regional banks, which oversee regional economic interests and coordinate with the New York Fed.