Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 27, 2025

Facing opposition, U.S. bank regulator nominee pledges to protect small lenders

Facing opposition, U.S. bank regulator nominee pledges to protect small lenders

U.S. President Joe Biden's pick to lead one of the country's top banking regulators will focus on ensuring a fair and competitive market in which small and mid-size banks can thrive, according to her prepared congressional testimony released on Wednesday.
Saule Omarova will appear before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday to explain why she should be confirmed as Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) despite opposition from banks, Republicans and even some Democrats.

In her testimony, Omarova said she wanted to protect small and mid-sized banks, which have shrunk in number in recent years, harming communities' access to credit.

"Community banks are also forced to compete with Big Tech companies, like Facebook, that do not play by the same rules," she wrote.

A professor at Cornell Law School and a former U.S. Treasury Department official as the financial crisis began unfolding in 2007, Omarova has won praise from Democratic progressives who believe she would be tough on Wall Street. She would also be the first woman to lead the 3,500-person agency.

But her nomination was met with fierce opposition from banks, who say her academic work arguing for big institutions to be broken up and for the Federal Reserve to provide public bank accounts is anti-capitalist. While nominees can pass with a simple majority, Omarova may still struggle to gain enough votes in a divided Senate, said Washington insiders.

Biden dropped his first pick for the post, former Treasury official Michael Barr, amid sharp criticism from progressives. If he is forced to withdraw Omarova's nomination, she would join Neera Tanden, whose nomination as budget director was dropped in March, and David Chipman, whose nomination to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, was withdrawn in September.

"All of my academic work is driven by one desire: how to improve our financial system and our financial regulation so we do not have a repetition of the 2008 crisis. It's not about somehow destroying private banks; it’s not anti-free market," Omarova told Reuters in an interview.

"It's about making sure that our financial system channels credit and capital into the real economy, to companies that employ real people," she added.

Born and raised in Kazakhstan, at the time part of the Soviet Union, Omarova bristled at what she sees as largely personal attacks and "misperceptions of her work", and said her experience of an oppressive state-run system had given her an appreciation of American values.

"I've lived for years in fear of saying what I thought and ... that’s what I really value in America. Being an academic in America entitles me, and gives me that freedom, to think about things that bankers do not think about because it's not their job."
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
Lakestar to Halt External Fundraising as Investor in Revolut and Spotify
U.S. Innovation Ranking Under Scrutiny as China Leads Output Outputs but Ranks 10th
Three Men Arrested in London on Suspicion of Spying for Russia
Porsche Reverses EV Strategy as New CEO Bets on Petrol and Hybrids
Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns of ‘Messy’ Transition to Post-American Global Order
Andreessen Horowitz Sets Sights on Ten-Billion-Dollar Fund for Tech Surge
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
‘Frightening’ First Night in Prison for Sarkozy: Inmates Riot and Shout ‘Little Nicolas’
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
×