Baradaran, Barr, consumer advocates are among the main contenders for the bank’s best cop

“We need to undo the damage from the past four years of politics: rebuild a strong financial consumer protection office and build resilience in the financial system with stronger capital and liquidity systems, for example,” He said in June 2020.

Whoever is chosen as a currency watcher will struggle with how to reduce the number of people excluded from the financial system – a circumstance that damages their ability to obtain government aid or obtain loans, especially if they do not have credit scores.

The new regulatory body will also oversee the national banking system at a time of technological turmoil, with traditional lenders facing both competition and business opportunities from online lenders and financial applications – an innovation that could lead to more efficient and equitable financial services but also the most consumer abuse.

Enforcement of the Community Reinvestment Act, a 1977 law to combat discriminatory lending practices by banks, is expected to be an early focus of regulators in the Biden administration. Trump-appointed Comptroller Joseph Otting has reformed the landmark anti-red lines law without support from the other Fed regulators: the Federal Reserve and FDIC. Democrats and community groups also opposed the move and faced suspicion from the banks.

The Fed has already begun working on an alternative approach.

Democrats have also pushed for Biden’s appointment to reverse other measures taken by the Foreign Coordination Committee under Trump, including rules they believe make it easier for payday lenders to partner with banks to bypass government interest rate limits.

Paradaran teaches at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, where she serves as Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion. I have written a book called “The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap,” which focuses on the barriers facing black-owned financial institutions and the dynamics behind the barriers to wealth building that black Americans face.

Barr is the dean for public policy at the University of Michigan and a nonresident senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Institutions in 2009 and 2010 and served in the White House under Obama before that. He also worked in the Treasury under President Bill Clinton.