By Michael S. Derby 

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said its second-in-command, Michael Strine, will retire early next year, capping a period of change in the bank's leadership.

Mr. Strine, 54 years old, is the New York Fed's chief operating officer and first vice president and serves as an alternate member of the interest-rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee. The bank said he would step down Feb. 28, at the end of his five-year term. The bank also said he would stop day-to-day work at the bank in early November to facilitate a smooth transition, which is customary for departing top-level central bank officials.

Mr. Strine has been first vice president since 2015, predating New York Fed President John Williams's arrival at the bank in June 2018.

While the bank searches for a replacement, Helen Mucciolo, head of the New York Fed's corporate group and an executive vice president, will act in Mr. Strine's place.

Mr. Strine oversaw operational issues at the New York Fed, which is the central bank's main point of contact with financial markets and a custodian of major gold holdings. Mr. Williams said Mr. Strine "has significantly strengthened the bank's operational capabilities, strategic planning, resourcing, prioritization and evaluation processes and made the institution more resilient to a range of challenges, including in the cyber realm."

Mr. Strine couldn't be immediately reached to comment on his retirement.

The official's exit comes as all 12 regional Fed bank presidents are set to undergo renomination to five-year terms that would start early next year. Bank presidents and their second-in-commands are evaluated by their bank's respective board of directors, with the involvement of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington. No regional Fed bank presidents have been officially turned down for new terms in modern memory.

Mr. Strine, who has worked in a number of positions at the New York Fed since 2013, is leaving after several other high-profile exits at the bank. In June 2019, Simon Potter, leader of the bank's markets group, and Richard Dzina, who helmed the financial services group, both left without successors being ready.

Mr. Potter's role overseeing the implementation of monetary policy was ultimately reorganized, with Lori Logan, a New York Fed veteran, taking over management of the central bank's holdings of securities, and Daleep Singh, a former Treasury official, joining the Fed to lead the markets group. Both were named to those jobs in December 2019.

Write to Michael S. Derby at michael.derby@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 17, 2020 16:54 ET (20:54 GMT)

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