Michelle Price and Pete Schroeder

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – President Joe Biden stated that he would renominate Jerome Powell as U.S. Federal Reserve chairman. However, he was left in Washington speculating about who will become Fed’s next regulatory chief.

Last month, Republican appointee Randal Quarles https://www.reuters.com/world/us/feds-randal-quarles-resign-end-december-2021-11-08 stepped down from that powerful role overseeing the country’s largest lenders, and is due to leave the central bank next month. Biden said that and other Fed picks would be announced https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/powell-brainard-nominated-feds-1-2-punch-whats-next-2021-11-23 in early December.

Analysts and Washington insiders had seen fellow Fed governor Lael Brainard https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/brainard-influential-fed-governor-expand-role-vice-chair-2021-11-22 as the leading candidate to replace Quarles because she opposed his agenda to revisit rules created following the 2007-2009 global financial crisis. But she has accepted the Fed Vice chair role.

While progressives have been pushing for someone who will take a more tough stance against Wall Street, it remains to be seen if that candidate will prevail. These are the most prominent names, as compiled by multiple analysts and Washington insiders.

RICHARD COORDRAY

Cordray was a former Ohio attorney-general and served as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB’s) first director between 2012 and 2017. His leadership saw the agency take a tough stance against payday and abusive lenders. He was praised by progressives, but criticized by Republicans for going beyond the scope of the law.

Cordray left the agency and ran unsuccessfully to be Ohio’s governor. Cordray currently manages the student loan program at Education Department.

Cordray didn’t respond to our requests for comment.

NELLIE LIANG TREASURY UNDERSECRETARY

Liang is currently Treasury’s undersecretary for domestic finance. She was also a Fed official and helped to build the new regulatory structure after the crisis. As a Fed staffer for many decades, Liang eventually became its first director of Division of Financial Stability after the financial crisis.

She left the central banks in 2017 and joined Brookings Institution. Here, she was critical of Republican efforts to cut capital requirements and liquidity requirements large banks.

Liang had been previously nominated to a Fed board seat in the past by President Donald Trump. But, she withdrew from her nomination in 2019 because Republicans opposed it over concerns she would be too harsh on Wall Street.

Jaret Seiberg of Cowen Washington Research Group wrote that while we would have expected her to tighten oversight at big banks, she struck us as pragmatic. This may not be a good fit for progressives.

Liang spokesperson refused to comment.

SARAH BOOM RASKIN – FORMER OBAMA OPERIAL

Raskin, a former Fed Governor and Treasury Official, is supported by progressives, but could still secure sufficient Senate votes according to Seiberg.

As a Fed governor from 2010 to 2014, Raskin slammed proprietary trading as of “low or no real economic value” and pushed for a strict interpretation of the “Volcker Rule,” a major post-crisis reform curbing such speculative investments.

Raskin was appointed as the deputy Treasury Secretary by President Barack Obama. Before joining the Fed, she was also the highest financial regulator in Maryland.

Raskin, who has been teaching at Duke Law since 2017, recently accepted a new position. Raskin will take over as faculty director of Duke’s Global Financial Markets Center. Raskin did not respond to our request for comment.

RAPHAEL BOSTIC ATLANTA FED PRESENDER

Bostic, who was appointed President of Atlanta Fed in 2017, became the first Black individual to be elected to this role. Bostic has spoken out on issues of racial diversity as well as economic inequality, which were key priorities for the Biden government.

Bostic, a trained economist, previously served in roles at both the Fed of Washington (where he received praises for his community lending rules) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Bostic is, however, “a bit of an unknown regarding financial regulation,” stated Brian Gardner (NYSE:) Corp., Chief Washington Policy Strategy Strategist, Stifel Financial.

Bostic stated Monday that he has “no trips” to Washington on his schedule and that any decisions regarding such an appointment were out of his control.

Bostic spokesperson refused to comment.

MICHAEL HSU MEHRSA BAARADARAN

Hsu, currently acting as the Comptroller and Currency of the Currency, was previously the head of big bank supervision at Fed. As acting Comptroller, he has pushed Democratic priorities, including climate change risk and has warned banks against “over-confidence” https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-banking-regulator-cautions-firms-against-overconfidence-following-pandemic-2021-05-18 coming out of the pandemic.

While he would be a good fit for Fed supervision, Washington insiders said, the nominee to replace him as permanent Comptroller, Saule Omarova, may not secure enough Senate votes after some moderate Democrats expressed concerns https://www.reuters.com/business/facing-fierce-opposition-us-bank-regulator-pick-pledges-protect-small-lenders-2021-11-17 over her academic work. Hsu could be needed to remain at the White House.

Baradaran is a financial expert and academic who was loved by the progressives that pushed her for Comptroller. The White House rejected her because of concerns from the government and moderate legislators, who claimed she didn’t have enough experience in the federal government.

Hsu spokeswoman, Baradaran declined to comment immediately.