Saule Omarova
Profile
Saule Omarova is a legal scholar and policy advisor specializing in banking law, financial regulation, and international finance. She serves as the Earle Hepburn Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, and is one of the most influential contemporary voices on reforming the financial system to align with public purpose and systemic stability.
Her research, teaching, and testimony before the U.S. Congress have shaped major debates on financial regulation, fintech, and the democratization of money and banking. In 2021, she was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden to serve as Comptroller of the Currency of the United States.
Academic and Professional Career
Before joining the University of Pennsylvania, Professor Omarova was the Beth and Marc Goldberg Professor of Law at Cornell University Law School, where she also directed the Jack Clarke Program on the Law and Regulation of Financial Institutions and Markets. She has held faculty positions at the University of North Carolina School of Law, the University of Toronto, Georgetown University Law Center, Université Jean Moulin Lyon, and University of Augsburg, teaching corporate finance, financial institutions law, and international financial regulation.
Earlier in her career, she practiced corporate law at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York, specializing in financial regulation and complex transactions. From 2006 to 2007, she served at the U.S. Department of the Treasury as Special Advisor for Regulatory Policy to the Under Secretary for Domestic Finance.
Research and Publications
Professor Omarova’s work explores the structural foundations of modern finance and the evolving relationship between the state, markets, and money. She is the author of the influential “People’s Ledger” proposal, published in the Vanderbilt Law Review (2021), which reimagines the Federal Reserve as a platform for universal public access to money and credit.
Her extensive scholarship includes dozens of articles in leading journals such as the Yale Law Journal, Cornell Law Review, Minnesota Law Review, Harvard Business Law Review, and Washington University Law Review. Key works include:
“The Finance Franchise” (with Robert C. Hockett), Cornell Law Review (2017)
“Public Actors in Private Markets”, Washington University Law Review (2015)
“The People’s Ledger”, Vanderbilt Law Review (2021)
“New Tech v. New Deal: Fintech as a Systemic Phenomenon”, Yale Journal on Regulation (2019)
“The ‘Too Big To Fail’ Problem”, Minnesota Law Review (2019)
Her book chapters have appeared in leading volumes such as The Oxford Handbook of State Capitalism and the Firm (2022), Research Handbook on Central Banking (2018), and The Routledge Handbook on Financial Technology and Law (2021).
Professor Omarova’s co-authored white papers with the Berggruen Institute, Data for Progress, and The Justice Collaborative Institute have advanced new frameworks for public investment and financial reform through the creation of a National Investment Authority.
Policy Engagement and Testimony
A frequent expert witness before Congress, Professor Omarova has testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the House Committee on Financial Services on issues ranging from fintech and financial inclusion to systemic risk and banking structure.
Her testimony has addressed landmark topics such as digital currencies (Libra Project), housing finance, commodity market regulation, and economic resilience. She has argued for the modernization of financial oversight mechanisms to better serve the public interest.
Professional Service and Recognition
Professor Omarova has served as a Senior Fellow at both the Roosevelt Institute and the Berggruen Institute’s “Future of Capitalism” program. She has been a Distinguished Visitor in the Law & Political Economy Program at Yale Law School and Convocation Speaker at Cornell Law School.
Her professional service includes editorial and advisory roles with the Journal of International Economic Law, Open Markets Institute, and the Committee on International Monetary Law (MOCOMILA) of the International Law Association. She has also chaired the AALS Section on Financial Institutions and Consumer Financial Services and received the James H. Chadbourn Award for Excellence in Scholarship at UNC.
Awards and Honors
Distinguished Visitor, Yale Law School LPE Program (2022)
Dean’s Distinguished Scholar in Residence, Washington University School of Law (2016)
Cornell Law School Convocation Speaker, selected by graduating class (2018)
James H. Chadbourn Award for Excellence in Scholarship, UNC School of Law (2010)
Winner, Junior Faculty Business & Financial Law Workshop, George Washington University (2011)
Education
Ph.D., Political Science, University of Wisconsin–Madison
J.D., Law, Northwestern University School of Law
Diploma, Philosophy, Moscow State University
Bar Admissions
New York State Bar
Selected Interviews
“Saule Omarova on the Weaknesses of the Current Banking System & Her Proposal for a People’s Ledger” — November 2, 2023
Institutions and Affiliations
University of Pennsylvania Law School • Cornell Law School • University of North Carolina • Georgetown University Law Center • Roosevelt Institute • Berggruen Institute
Fields
Law • Finance • Political Economy
Areas of Expertise
Banking Law • Regulation of Financial Institutions • International Finance • Corporate Finance • Financial Technology • Central Banking • Public Investment