The U.S. Senate on Wednesday approved Federal Reserve Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin to be the No. 2 official at the Treasury Department, backing a critic of Wall Street to help coordinate an overhaul of financial regulations.

The Senate approved the nomination by voice vote.

Raskin, who was a state banking supervisor before she joined the Fed, is expected to play a central role in the roll-out of regulations aimed at preventing a repeat of the 2007-09 financial crisis.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Her departure from the central bank opens yet another seat on the Fed’s board for President Barack Obama to fill. Obama on Jan. 10 nominated former Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer to serve as vice chairman and two others for regular board seats.

The Treasury declined to make Raskin available for an interview ahead of her confirmation, but in the past she has been an outspoken critic of some of modern finance’s favorite ideas and pastimes.

For one, she disdains the practice of big banks making financial market bets to chase a profit, rather than only trading on the behalf of clients.

Raskin has argued the huge sums of cash that this proprietary trading pumps into markets is destabilizing because it makes risky bets appear less so, and could trigger sharp price drops when markets turn south. The orthodox view held by financiers – that large amounts of liquidity always create a more efficient market – is wrong, she has said.

“Price discovery actually is impeded by this hyper-liquidity,” Raskin said in a July 2012 speech in which she criticized big banks for seeking quick profits. “Liquidity is not an inherent public benefit.”

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount