Several large U.S. financial institutions, including the Federal Reserve, have withdrawn from the networks after years of growing political and legal pressure.

The Federal Reserve said Friday that it is leaving an international grouping of central banks that focused on how regulation of the financial system could help combat climate change. The Fed's membership has been criticized by Republicans in Congress.

The central bank said it had decided to leave the network after the group’s work “increasingly broadened in scope.”

The Federal Reserve has withdrawn from the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System, a global coalition of central banks engaged in the study of climate risk that was launched in 2017.

The Federal Reserve is withdrawing from an environmental group for global central bankers. The Fed joined the group, the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System, in