Michelle Price and Pete Schroeder

WASHINGTON (Reuters] – President Joe Biden claimed last month that he would renominate Jerome Powell, the chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve. However, he left Washington wondering who would be Fed’s new regulator chief.

After Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal report that Sarah Bloom Raskin (a former Fed Governor and Treasury Department official) was being considered for the job, speculation is rife about who will be the next recipient.

Randal Quarles was a Republican nominee who resigned in October from his powerful position overseeing America’s largest lenders. He is expected to depart the central bank before the year ends. Biden stated that this and other Fed selections will be made in December.

Washington insiders as well as analysts saw Lael brainard, the Fed’s former governor, as the top candidate to replace Quarles. This was because they disagreed with his plan to revise rules established after the financial crisis in 2007-2009. But, she has accepted the Fed Vice-Chair role which focuses on economic as well as monetary policy.

The Progressives want a candidate that would be more aggressive on Wall Street. However, it’s not clear if this will happen. According to Washington insiders and multiple analysts, these are the top names.

SARAH BOOM RASKIN – FORMER OBAMA OPERIAL

Former Fed Governor and Treasury Official, Raskin has been supported by progressives, but could still get sufficient Senate votes to win the job, according Jaret Seiberg of Cowen Washington Research Group.

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 later appointed deputy Treasury secretary by former President Barack Obama. Prior to joining the Fed she served as Maryland’s top financial regulator.

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 has not responded to inquiries for comment.

RICHARD CORDRAY, FORMER CFPB HEAD

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 quit the agency after which he ran unsuccessfully as Ohio Governor. Cordray currently manages the student loan program at Education Department.

Cordray didn’t respond to our requests for comment.

NELLIE LIANG TREASURY UNDER SECRETARY

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. After working for the Fed for decades as an employee, she became the first Director of the Division of Financial Stability.

In 2017, she left the central banking to become a member of the Brookings Institution. There, she criticised Republican attempts to reduce capital and liquidity requirements in large banks.

Liang was previously nominated by Donald Trump for a Fed Board seat, but withdrew her candidacy in 2019, after Republicans blocked the nomination due to concerns that she might be too hard on Wall Street.

Cowen Washington Research Group’s Seiberg said that although we expected her to increase oversight at big banks, “she also struck us pragmatically, which may or not work well for progressives.”

Liang’s spokesperson declined to comment.

RAPHAEL BOSTIC – ATLANTA FED PRINCE

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 is an economist by trade. He previously worked at the Fed Washington where he was praised for his efforts on community lending rules and at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Bostic is, however, “a little unknown in financial regulation,” stated Brian Gardner (NYSE:) Corp., chief Washington policy strategist for 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 AARADARAN

Hsu, currently acting Comptroller and Currency, was previously the head of big bank supervision at Fed. He has been acting Comptroller of the Currency and has advocated Democratic priorities including climate change risk.

He would make a great Fed supervisor, but Washington insiders say that Saule Omarova (the nominee to succeed him as permanent Comptroller) may not be enough Senate votes. This is because moderate Democrats have expressed concern about her academic performance. Hsu may be required to stay at the White House.

Progressives loved Baradaran as a scholar and financial inclusion expert. They pushed for her to be the Comptroller. Due to the concerns of the industry and moderate lawmakers who felt she did not possess sufficient government experience, the White House declined her nomination.

Hsu’s spokeswoman declined to comment. Baradaran also did not respond immediately to our request.