(Corrects paragraph 13 to show Beacon Policy Advisors is a research and not a lobbying firm)
By Michael Flaherty
WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - As the Senate Banking committee pushes ahead with its agenda, one target emerging on both sides of the political aisle is the New York Federal Reserve Bank and its role in the financial industry.
The New York Fed has come under increased pressure from lawmakers who say the bank is too cozy with Wall Street, a charge that gained attention from bank examiner tapes leaked last fall.
Republicans and Democrats on the powerful committee have yet to agree on what changes to impose on the New York Fed, whose role traditionally has been to be the central bank's eyes and ears on Wall Street.
Committee Chairman Richard Shelby discussed the structure of the New York Fed with Fed Chair Janet Yellen in a meeting this week, a Senate Banking aide said on Friday.
The Alabama Republican has expressed interest in a plan by outgoing Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher that includes stripping the New York Fed of its permanent vote on policy and transferring Wall Street oversight from New York to other regional banks.
Senator Sherrod Brown, the committee's top Democrat, does not support the Fisher plan.
"I don't know what re-arranging the chess pieces does," Brown told Reuters this week. "I don't think that really changes the Fed that much."
Brown backs a bill requiring the New York Fed president be a White House appointee with congressional approval.
"If that's a place the chairman wants to go, that's the kind of thing that maybe we can discuss," Brown said.
Shelby appears more interested in structural reform of the Fed than a full audit of the central bank, Brown said. .
The seven Washington-based Fed governors are White House appointees and are confirmed by the Senate. The Fed's 12 regional bank presidents are chosen by their own boards.
Eleven of the banks rotate into voting positions on the Fed's policy-setting committee, while New York has a permanent vote, given the large role it plays overseeing Wall Street.
"I think they want to formally remove more power from the New York Fed and give it to the board," said Brandon Barford, a partner at research firm Beacon Policy Advisors, who noted that the New York Fed has often served as a "useful foil" for both parties.
Shelby also wants regulatory relief for small banks, which Democrats support as long as restrictions on large banks are retained.
"The goal is to do one package covering all areas," the Senate Banking aide said, referring to Fed reform, regulatory relief and related issues the committee takes up in the coming weeks. The committee hopes to have a combined bill by April, the aide said.
(Reporting by Michael Flaherty; Editing by Dan Grebler)