Richard Cordray, the former Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the current Chief Operating Officer of Federal Student Aid, is being considered for the post of the Federal Reserve’s top banking regulator, according to a number of published reports. Cordray, who was Attorney General of Ohio before joining the CFPB, has the backing of Sen. Sherrod Brown [D-Ohio], the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and a fellow Ohioan. Cordray would replace Randal Quarles, whose term as Vice Chairman of Banking Supervision at the Fed ended last month.
Having allies like Sen. Brown and Sen. Elizabeth Warren [D-Mass.] may go a long way toward helping Cordray’s case. President Biden has said he plans on announcing his nomination to replace Quarles in early December.
“Rich served my state well as attorney general, he served the country well out of the Consumer [Financial Protection] Bureau,” Sen. Brown said in a report. “I think he’s one of several that are qualified.”
If nominated, Cordray would have to be confirmed by the Senate. Reports indicate that President Biden likes the idea of someone like Cordray high up at the Fed after he decided to re-nominated Fed Chair Jerome Powell for a second term.
Cordray has been active since leaving the CFPB four years ago, including during his stint at Federal Student Aid, which oversees the servicing and collection of $1.6 trillion in student loans.
The Vice Chairman of Banking Supervision is considered to be the most powerful overseer of the entire banking industry, inspecting and setting rules for the nation’s largest financial institutions.
President Biden has pledged to “bring new diversity” to the Fed, which he says is “much needed and long overdue.”
