PANews reported on October 28th that according to Jinshi, US President Trump indicated on Monday that he may announce his nominee to succeed Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell before the end of the year. Powell's term ends in May of next year, and the field has been narrowed down to five finalists. Treasury Secretary Bensont plans to conduct a second round of interviews with the current slate of candidates next month and then submit a more streamlined list of nominees to the president for his consideration.

Bessant revealed on Monday that the five finalists include two current Fed governors initially nominated by Trump: Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, who also serves as Vice Chair for Bank Supervision. Two candidates are widely considered the frontrunners: Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, and Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor. The fifth candidate on the list is Rick Rieder, a veteran BlackRock executive who oversees the firm's large bond business.