Richard Shelby, the most senior Republican on the US Senate's Banking Committee, on Thursday voted against a second term at the helm of the Federal Reserve for Ben Bernanke.

Shelby said: "For many years I held the Federal Reserve in very high regard. I believed it to be the nation's repository of financial expertise. I feel, however, our trust and confidence have been misplaced." He added: "Not everything can be blamed on the system. The individuals who run the system also need to be accountable