(Washington) The United States Senate on Wednesday confirmed the appointment of Michael Barr to the key position of vice president in charge of banking supervision at the Central Bank, the Fed, for a four-year term.
Posted at 4:50 p.m.
The plenary assembly of the Senate voted in favor, by 66 votes against 28.
US President Joe Biden proposed his name in April.
He will be responsible for regulating financial establishments, from Wall Street giants like JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, to local banks.
Currently holding academic responsibilities at the University of Michigan, Mr. Barr served in the Treasury Department during the administrations of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
He is one of the main architects of the Dodd-Frank law, passed after the financial crisis of 2008-2009 to better regulate the activity of major American banking institutions.
He also played an important role in the creation of the Financial Consumer Protection Bureau (CFPB), but also of the position for which Mr. Biden chose him.
His predecessor, Randal Quarles, was appointed by Donald Trump to unravel the banking regulations put in place by the Dodd-Frank Act.
Mr Biden’s original nominee for the post, Sarah Bloom Raskin, pulled out of the race in mid-March as her nomination appeared to be in jeopardy due to a lack of sufficient support in the Senate.
Republicans criticized him in particular for his positions on climate change and banking regulations.
During a hearing in May before the Senate Banking Committee, Mr. Barr had adopted a more consensual approach on the subject, believing in particular that it was not up to the Fed to determine to which sectors the banks should or should not lend. money, energy projects for example.