The White House is considering Saule Omarova, to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), The New York Times (NYT) has learned, citing people familiar with the matter. After failure with two previous choices, the Biden administration is in early stages of vetting Omarova for this role, the sources added. They also said Omarova could be nominated in the coming months or by early next year.
Subscribe to our Telegram channel to stay up to date on the latest crypto and blockchain news.
Saule Omarova practiced law in the Financial Institutions Group of Davis Polk & Wardwell, and served in the George W. Bush Administration as a Special Advisor on Regulatory Policy to the US Treasury’s Under Secretary for Domestic Finance.
According to NYT, Omarova emphasized in academic writings the necessity for banks to stay away from the cryptocurrency business as she considered this sector as a digital Wild West. She noted that cryptocurrency-related operations would allow banks to hide their trading activity from the Federal Reserve supervision. If and when Omarova is nominated to lead the OCC, she would need Senate confirmation.
Meanwhile, OCC Acting Comptroller, Michael Hsu, warns that the agency might review its recent actions related to the cryptocurrency market. According to Hsu, the regulator's cryptocurrency initiatives "were not done in full coordination with all stakeholders."
Access more than 50 of the world's financial markets directly from your EXANTE account – including NASDAQ, London Stock Exchange and Tokyo Stock Exchange.