Having gritted their teeth through Gary Gensler and Rohit Chopra, the pitchforks are out for Saule Omarova.
You’d have thought Gary Gensler was bad enough. Rohit Chopra in Mick Mulvaney’s seat? Even worse. The decreasing likelihood that Jay Powell will at least be around to keep an eye on their interests? Tough to take. But this communist who wants to “end banking as we know it” as head of the most important banking regulator in the country? That is simply too much for the banks to take.
Bankers usually take a reserved approach when reacting to proposed new regulators, so such pointed objections immediately after the White House announced its intention to nominate Ms. Omarova on Sept. 23 are almost unheard-of. And the united front displayed by all of the major trade groups is also unusual, because the largest banks’ agendas are sometimes at odds with those of the smallest…. The banking groups say that Ms. Omarova’s views pose a threat to the industry’s business models, even though creating a public banking option through the Fed would be well outside the power of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which oversees large nationally chartered banks.
Should they succeed, it seems our last best hope of killing off cryptocurrencies goes with her.
“Our approach is really quite different [to China’s],” Gensler said. He added that any ban would probably have to be legislated by Congress.
Bank Groups Unite Against Biden’s Pick for Key Regulatory Post [NYT]
SEC Chief Says the U.S. Won't Ban Cryptocurrencies [Bloomberg]
Sen. Elizabeth Warren Says Fed Suffers From ‘Culture of Corruption’ [WSJ]
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