Why U.S. Chamber of Commerce is opposing Biden’s banking nominees

By Brendan Pedersen

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is taking on an increasingly visible role in the confirmation process for the Biden administration’s financial regulatory nominees, another indication of the ripple effects banking policy is having across the broader business community….Analysts say the Chamber’s behavior is emblematic of the financial system’s expanding role in the broader economy over the past couple of decades. “It reflects the importance of financial regulation in a financialized economy,” said Karen Petrou, managing partner at Federal Financial Analytics. The structure of the financial system has also changed considerably in recent years, and a more concentrated banking and markets landscape means that the policy choices made by the nation’s bank regulators could have more immediate implications for the economy. “If a bank regulator takes a position on climate risk [at one time], that would have been germane only to banks, and there was enough diversity in the institutions and in the markets that it would not have been structurally significant,” Petrou said. “Now, it is.” Other analysts say that the U.S. Chamber is also likely responding to specific policy preferences of the Biden administration and its nominees that appear to be more ambitious and progressive.

https://www.americanbanker.com/news/why-u-s-chamber-of-commerce-is-opposing-bidens-banking-nominees