Biden Pick for Bank Regulator Won’t Tell Banks Where to Lend (1)

President Joe Biden’s pick to be the US’s top banking regulator is pledging not to let social issues drive his stance in overseeing Wall Street.

Michael Barr, an architect of the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, told senators weighing his nomination that the Federal Reserve didn’t have a right to tell banks to which industries they should lend. He added that central bank’s authority to push to fight climate change was “quite narrow.”

“The Federal Reserve is not able to allocate credit, should not be in the business of telling financial institutions to lend to a particular sector or ...