Bank of New York Mellon CEO Says Pressure on Fed Is 'Counterproductive'

By Nicholas G. Miller

Bank of New York Mellon Chief Executive Robin Vince said in a call with media that the Trump administration's pressure on the Federal Reserve is "counterproductive" to its goal of improving affordability.

The independence of the Fed is a critical underpin of the bond market, "so shaking at the foundation of it doesn't seem to be to us to be accomplishing the administration's primary objectives," Vince said, adding that the U.S. bond market is the most important in the world.

Threatening that independence could push up interest rates, increasing the cost of borrowing for Americans "because the market potentially has to worry about something that frankly, they shouldn't have to worry about," he said.

The Justice Department recently opened an investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell over his testimony last summer about the central bank's building-renovation project. Powell claimed the investigation was an attempt to pressure the Fed to lower interest rates.

"Independent central banks with the ability to independently set monetary policy in the long-term interests of the nation is a pretty well established thing that we've seen all around the world over a very long period of time," Vince said. "It's served economies and capital markets really well."

Write to Nicholas G. Miller at nicholas.miller@wsj.com.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 13, 2026 08:29 ET (13:29 GMT)