Washington, D.C. — As the Senate Banking Committee considers Saule Omarova’s nomination to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Accountable.US released new analysis showing Republican members of the Senate Banking Committee likely to oppose her confirmation have pocketed over $7.7 million from commercial banks — including over $1.6 million from the industry groups openly opposing her nomination. 

“Predictably, Senate Republicans have wasted no time smearing Saule Omarova’s impeccable qualifications to lead the OCC, parroting complaints from their megabank donors that recoil at the mere idea of an effective, pro-consumer regulator,” said Jeremy Funk, spokesman for Accountable.US. “Big Banks fear Omarova because she’ll turn the page on Trump’s OCC that let industry write their own rules and did nothing to ensure communities of color have fair access to credit, despite reams of evidence of systematic discrimination. Any attacks we see today from the lawmakers drowning in industry campaign cash come from cynical self-interest, not from a place of concern for consumers. Unfortunately, there’s no shortage of politicians in the financial industry’s pocket willing to say or do anything to hold up her confirmation — even if it means siding with unscrupulous predatory lenders over consumers.”  

If confirmed, Omarova would be the first woman and person of color to lead the 158-year-old agency. She has a demonstrated progressive history on industry oversight — including criticizing banking abuses instead of accepting the industry’ssuperficially reassuring answers.” 

 

KEY DETAILS FROM THE REPORT: 

  • Senate Banking Republicans likely to oppose Omarova’s historic nomination have received over $7.7 million from commercial banks, including over $1.6 million from the banking industry’s biggest trade groups.
     
  • The American Bankers Association has given $713,000 to the Senate Banking Committee’s Republican members. 
     
  • The Independent Community Bankers Of America has warned Omarova’s confirmation would result in “’eliminating the banking system as we know it today.’” The group has given $489,000 to the Senate Banking Committee’s Republican members.  
     
  • The Bank Policy Institute echoed claims that Omarova was a “‘radical choice” who would remake U.S. banks in “‘Gosbank’s image.‘” The group has given $164,250 to the Senate Banking Committee’s Republican members.  
     
  • The Consumer Bankers Association claimed Omarova’s ideas “‘raise serious concerns.‘” The group has given $189,500 to the Senate Banking Committee’s Republican members. 
     
  • The U.S. Chamber Of Commercestrongly opposes” Omarova’s nomination and warned of “a near complete government takeover of banking.” The group has given $86,000 to the Senate Banking Committee’s Republican members.   

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