What do the Data Reveal about (the Absence of Black) Financial Regulators?

Abstract

This study published by the Brookings Institution provides empirical evidence on African Americans in positions of authority at financial regulatory agencies. It shows that African Americans have been largely excluded from senior leadership opportunities since the New Deal. It also shows that this absence is the product of a bipartisan failure to nominate African Americans to positions of authority, and provides evidence indicating that when African Americans accede to regulatory positions it is overwhelmingly the product of ‘sponsorship,’ or prompting, by the Executive branch, not the Senate. The paper also reveals a near total exclusion of African Americans from roles as senior policy staffers in current financial regulatory agencies, regardless of the political affiliation of the political appointees making hiring and staffing decisions.

Keywords: Diversity; Race; Financial Regulation; SEC; CFTC; FDIC; NCUA; Federal Reserve; OCC; FHFA