File photo taken on March 13, 2014 shows Stanley Fischer at a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on the confirmation of him to be the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)
Stanley Fischer, Vice Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, on Wednesday submitted his resignation for "personal reasons," adding another vacancy in the Fed's seven-member board.
Fischer's resignation as Vice Chairman and a member of the Fed board of governors will be effective on or around Oct. 13, 2017, months before his term expires in June 2018, the central bank said in a statement.
Fischer, a respected 73-year-old economist and former head of Bank of Israel, has joined the Fed board since May 2014 and served as chairman of the board's committee on financial stability.
"Stan's keen insights, grounded in a lifetime of exemplary scholarship and public service, contributed invaluably to our monetary policy deliberations," Fed Chair Janet Yellen said in a statement.
"He represented the Board internationally with distinction and led our efforts to foster financial stability," she added.
Fischer's departure comes as U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to reshape the Fed board, which currently has three vacancies. Trump has nominated Randal Quarles, an investment-fund manager and former U.S. Treasury official, as Fed's vice chiair of supervision.
As Yellen's current term expires in February next year, Trump has also begun the search for the next Fed Chair. Yellen and Director of the National Economic Council Gary Cohn are among contenders to lead the central bank next year, according to U.S. media.
But Trump said he wouldn't announce his nominee for next Fed Chair until the end of this year, as it's still too early to make that decision.
