US President Joe Biden is nominating Michael Barr, a former Ripple advisor, to serve as Vice Chair for Supervision of the Federal Reserve.
During the Obama Administration, Barr worked as assistant secretary for financial institutions for the Treasury Department, according to a White House press release.
In 2015, Barr joined Ripple as an advisor.
Said Barr at the time,
“I’m excited to be joining the Advisory Board of Ripple Labs. Our global payments system is badly outdated. I think innovation in payments can help make the financial system safer, reduce cost, and improve access and efficiency for consumers and businesses alike.”
Biden says in the press release that he plans to work with Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, to move Barr’s nomination “forward quickly” towards confirmation. Brown expressed his support for Barr’s nomination in statement.
Ripple has run afoul of the US regulators in the past few years. In late 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued the San Francisco-based payments company, alleging that it sold XRP as an unregistered security.
The regulator also filed individual charges against Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and the company’s co-founder, Chris Larsen.
The case is still ongoing.
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