Federal Reserve Chairman Colin Powell says diversity will play a key role in the choice of successors to the Fed presidents in Boston and Dallas.
The two presidents retired after being criticized for disclosing trading activities.
"I can absolutely assure you that we will try to find and give a variety of candidates for these two positions," Powell said at a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday. This will be the point.
The boards of the Federal Reserve in Dallas and Boston will each choose a candidate, which must be approved by the Federal Reserve Board before it can take effect.
In the Fed's 107-year history, only one regional Fed governor is black, the current president of the Atlanta Fed. No Hispanic has ever held the post of regional Fed president, and there are only two Asians.