Omarova has indicated that she hopes to “end banking as we know it,” but she fears that huge financial institutions can misuse the cryptocurrency market because it is not within the jurisdiction of regulators.
As reported by the New York Times, the Biden administration intends to nominate Kazakhstani-American attorney, academic, and former policy advisor Saule Omarova to be the next director of the Office Of The Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which is in charge of supervising the nation’s banking sector.
Omarova has previously expressed her dissatisfaction with both cryptocurrency assets and the legacy banking system, and she has stated her desire to “end banking as we know it.” She has stated that cryptocurrency is “primarily benefiting from the dysfunctional financial system that we already have in place.”
It is possible that Omarova will be nominated as early as this week, according to a Bloomberg storey published on September 22 that cited three unnamed people who are “familiar with the nomination process.”
Omarova, who is now employed as a law professor at Cornell University Law School, is anticipated to advocate for stronger cryptocurrency restrictions, claiming that the sector poses a threat to the stability of the economy and is ripe for misuse by huge private financial institutions.
The academic is a specialist in banking lawCommercial law in Texas now recognizes cryptocurrencies and corporate finance, among other things.
In the event that she is approved, Omarova’s stay at the OCC would represent a substantial departure from the previous administration, which was led by former Coinbase legal officer and crypto proponent Brian Brooks toward the end of Trump’s presidency.
Omarova has also made bold recommendations for the financial system, advocating for consumer banking services to be controlled solely by the Federal Reserve, rather than by private organisations, as she has done in the past.
Previously, she worked as a special adviser for regulatory policy at the Treasury Department of the United States under the administration of George W. Bush.
Although analysts are optimistic that Omarova will be appointed to the OCC, they predict she will face significant opposition, given the Democratic Party’s slim Senate majority and the banking industry’s planned lobbying against her appointment.
If she is appointed, Omarova would be the first woman to hold the position of official head of the agency, though the OCC has previously been directed by a female acting head.
According to the New York Times, the Biden administration began vetting Omarova for the position as early as August.
While the Democrats had earlier considered former Treasury official Michael Barr and law professor Mehra Baradaran for the position, they ultimately decided that neither candidate would be able to gain enough support to be confirmed by a Senate committee.
