Democrats and members of the Senate Banking Committee are opposed to Saule Omarova’s nomination for Comptroller of the Currency.
President Joe Biden’s candidate for Comptroller of the Currency, Saule Omarova, is said to have been rejected by a group of five Democratic senators (OCC). Three members of the Senate Banking Committee — Senators Jon Tester, Mark Warner, and Kyrsten Sinema — voiced their opposition to Omarova’s nomination as a bank regulator in a phone conversation with panel chairman Sen. Sherrod Brown, according to Axios.
Senators John Hickenlooper and Mark Kelly added their voices to the opposition. Omarova, who formerly served as Special Advisor for Regulatory Policy to the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance, is noted for her anti-crypto beliefs. Due to the opposition of five Democrats and all Republicans, the White House contender now needs every other Democratic candidate to vote in favour of her nomination.
Senators questioned Omarova on her nomination on Nov. 18, including Georgia Senator John Ossoff, who had particular questions about cryptocurrencies for Omarova. Her remarks acknowledged some of the benefits of bitcoin in financial markets, but she emphasized the risk of cryptocurrency undermining the US dollar, which the Comptroller of the Currency is responsible for overseeing.
One of two things can happen next. Either the Biden administration can persuade Democratic senators who are opposed to Omarova’s candidacy to alter their minds, or the administration will nominate a new nominee for Senate confirmation.
Senator Pat Toomey pressed Omarova about her missing Marxism thesis in October, and the acting Comptroller of the Currency, Michael J. Hsu, identified Tether and Binance as hazardous blockchain participants in early November.
Sherrod Brown, the chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, increased the regulatory pressure by issuing notifications requiring crypto companies to submit information on consumer and investor protection on stablecoins.
Brown’s warning was sent to Coinbase, Gemini, Paxos, TrustToken, Binance.US, Circle, Centre, and Tether, according to Cointelegraph, and they now have until December 3 to hand up the needed information. The crypto companies will have to provide information on stablecoin purchases, exchanges, and minting.
The companies are also required to provide the number of tokens in circulation as well as how frequently users trade them for US cash. Investors “may not comprehend the intricacy and various characteristics and conditions of each stablecoin,” according to the senator. The following is taken from the letter:
“I have significant concerns with the non-standardized terms applicable to redemption of particular stablecoins, how those terms differ from traditional assets and how those terms may not be consistent across digital asset trading platforms.”
