Biden considering Cordray for top Fed bank regulator role: report

President Biden is reportedly considering nominating former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray as the Federal Reserve’s top banking regulator.

The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported on Tuesday that Biden is mulling tapping Cordray to serve as the vice chairman of banking supervision at the Federal Reserve, which would make him the most powerful person watching over the U.S. banking system.

He would succeed Randal Quarles, who served in the post for four years before his term ended last month.

Biden appointed Cordray to serve as chief operating officer of federal student aid in May, giving him oversight over the Education Department’s $1.6 trillion loan portfolio.

Cordray, a Democrat, was the first person to serve as the full-time director of the CFPB, the consumer watchdog agency that was established through the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law.

He headed the agency from 2012 until 2017, becoming a revered figure among progressives and a point of frustration in the financial industry for pushing strict new regulations and aggressive penalties for misconduct.

Under his tenure the CFPB strengthened underwriting standards for mortgages, increased the disclosures required for credit-card rates and fees and established federal government oversight when it came to payday lending, according to the Journal.

Reports that Biden is considering Cordray for the top Fed job come after he announced that he was renominating Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to another term at the helm of the central bank.

The White House said Biden intends to make appointments to the three vacant seats on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, including the vice chair for supervision, in early December.

The White House also said in a statement that Biden is “committed to improving the diversity in the Board’s composition.”

The White House declined to comment to The Hill, only pointing to last week’s statement about the vacancies.

Cordray previously served as Ohio’s attorney general from 2009 until 2011, when he was beaten by current Gov. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio). He ran for governor of Ohio in 2018 but ultimately lost to DeWine.

He also waged an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the U.S. House in 1992 and the U.S. Senate in 2000.