How Trump Can Give Wall Street What It Wants

Randal Quarles was speaking to a standing-room-only crowd at a financial industry conference at the Pierre hotel in New York on Nov. 7, in the glow of Venetian chandeliers and bankers’ goodwill. The regulations that swept in after the 2008 financial crisis are ripe for an edit, said the Federal Reserve’s new vice chair for supervision, one of Wall Street’s watchdogs, and “everything is up for a fresh look.” President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to roll back financial regulation is making fitful progress on the legislative front. But his choice of Quarles for the supervision job highlights another way to deregulate: by changing the people in charge at key agencies. The former executive of private equity giant Carlyle Group added that the biggest difference he’ll probably make is “changing the tenor” of how the Fed interacts with banks.

Trump is about to get a chance to change another agency’s tune. Richard Cordray said on Nov. 15 that he will step down as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Cordray continued to issue restrictions this year, including one on payday lenders.