A brave new world of banking

The idea that a bank's lending function must be separate from its monetary function is gaining traction in the US

If President Joe Biden has his way, the US will have as head of the Office of Comptroller of Currency (OCC) a lady who intends to change the very nature of banking. The US has multiple regulators for banking. The OCC is, perhaps, the most important one.

Consequent to the global crisis, the pendulum has swung in the US away from the market and towards a greater role for regulation and state intervention. That Saule Omarova, a law professor at Cornell University, has even been nominated for the post of OCC is evidence of such a swing.

Ms Omarova belongs