New York Fed President Bill Dudley said he would be open to changes to banking regulations, though he cautioned against returning to the way things were before the financial crisis.
President-elect Donald Trump has said he would be in favor of repealing the Dodd-Frank regulations put in place after the financial system nearly collapsed in 2008.
In a presentation Friday, Dudley did not address that idea specifically, though he noted the troubles with lax bank regulations that led to the collapse of multiple Wall Street institutions and the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
"The crisis occurred in part because there were some real problems in terms of the financial system," he said. "Banks didn't have sufficient capital, they didn't have enough quality capital, they didn't have sufficient liquidity buffers."
"I think it would be a big mistake to go back to the pre-financial crisis set of regulations that we had in place," he added.
"That said, is Dodd-Frank perfect? I would be very hesitant to say that. So if there are aspects of Dodd-Frank that could be improved, it would be completely reasonable for Congress to take that on, and it's obviously up to them," he said.
Bank stocks have surged since Trump's victory, with the KBW Nasdaq Bank index gaining about 13 percent since the day after the election.
Dudley wouldn't speculate on how some of Trump's other proposals will affect the economy. He did say the Republican's improbable victory is causing some uncertainty, but added "we're not going to make any judgments today" on what policies will be put in place and the effects they have.