Adds additional details and background

By Michael S. Derby

NEW YORK, Dec 12 (Reuters) - The head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's powerful Markets Group, Michelle Neal, is stepping down and will leave the bank in March 2025, the bank said in a press release on Thursday.

Neal will serve as a senior advisor at the bank until she exits, the bank said, adding that Neal is moving to a role in the private sector. Neal oversees the part of the New York Fed that interfaces with the financial sector. Neal was also a member of the bank's Executive Committee.

While a successor to Neal is sought, the bank said in its press release that Anna Nordstrom, currently head of the Domestic and International Markets Function in the Markets Group, will serve as interim leader of the Markets Group.

Neal joined the New York Fed in the spring of 2022 after a long string of leadership jobs in the financial sector. In the press release, John Williams, president of the New York Fed, said Neal "has overseen significant initiatives - including the major technological investment in the Federal Reserve’s open market operations - to transform and innovate the critical work that we do."

Neal's exit is unlikely to have any notable implications for central bank operations as the implementation of monetary policy is handled by Roberto Perli, the manager of the Fed's System Open Market Account.

(Reporting by Michael S. Derby; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

((Michael.Derby@thomsonreuters.com;))