Many on Wall Street see Kamala Harris as a noncontroversial partner to Joe Biden, closely aligned with him on the issues closest to them.
Photo: Carolyn Kaster/Associated PressWhen Joe Biden announced California Sen. Kamala Harris as his vice presidential pick, he pointed to her tough-on-banks record. Much of Wall Street cheered anyway.
The warm welcome reflects some relief that in choosing Ms. Harris, Mr. Biden has—for now at least—fended off the more progressive wing of the Democratic Party that has called for tougher financial regulation.
During her own primary campaign, Ms. Harris managed to impress a Wall Street set that tends to be fiscally conservative and socially liberal. As Mr. Biden’s running mate, they see a noncontroversial partner—closely aligned with him on the issues nearest and dearest to their hearts—and an asset with big donors.
About half a dozen leaders in business and finance said they expect Ms. Harris to be a moderate voice committed to rebuilding an economy upended by the coronavirus pandemic. They expect her to take some swings at Wall Street; as California attorney general, she helped take big banks to task for their role in the foreclosure crisis, and she has proposed taxing financial transactions to pay for a health-care overhaul. But they said they won’t take it personally.
“I think she is a reasonable, rational person who has worked in the system,” said Bill Daley, Wells Fargo & Co.’s head of public affairs and a former chief of staff to President Obama. “Is she a progressive? Yes. Is she someone who wants to burn the building down? No. I think she wants to strengthen the building.”
Ms. Harris proved adept at courting wealthy donors in the Hamptons and Martha’s Vineyard while speaking credibly to middle-class concerns. She sought input—and money—from CEOs across industries for her campaign in listening sessions, and touted her record supporting small-business owners at an event in Iowa sponsored by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the Wall Street powerhouse.
Blair Effron, co-founder of boutique investment bank Centerview Partners who donated to Ms. Harris’s presidential primary campaign, called her “direct but constructive.” He said Ms. Harris thinks big business has “a responsibility to be part of the solution, but she makes clear how we will all benefit with shared prosperity.”
Ms. Harris’s record as a prosecutor could signal a tougher stance on consumer protection, but new financial regulation—much of it relaxed under President Trump—is likely to take a back seat to the more immediate task of repairing the economy.
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“She thinks what’s good for business should be and can be good for the country,” said Charles Phillips, co-chair of the Black Economic Alliance and a longtime Harris supporter. “She wants to figure out a way for the system to work for everyone and expand the pie.”
Ms. Harris, the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants who was elected to the Senate in 2016, is no stranger to the corporate world. As the San Francisco district attorney and California’s attorney general, she was seen as someone who has been, at times, sympathetic to the technology industry, understanding its economic potential for the state even as it brought rising inequality and social backlash.
Her primary campaign focused on taking on Mr. Trump before switching strategies in an attempt to widen her appeal, highlighting a “3 a.m. agenda” that includes a middle-class tax cut, gender pay equality and a refundable tax credit to help with rising costs of housing.
Ms. Harris met with Iowans in Waukee during her presidential campaign last August.
Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesTo some Wall Street executives, Ms. Harris’s selection signals a more moderate shift for the Democratic Party, which its progressive flank has pushed to the left in recent years. She edged out more-liberal vice presidential contenders—particularly Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who called for tighter banking regulations—and is now positioned as a front-runner to one day succeed the 77-year-old Mr. Biden should he win the presidency.
“While Kamala is a forceful, passionate and eloquent standard-bearer for the aspirations of all Americans, regardless of their race, gender or age, she is not doctrinaire or rigid,” said Brad Karp, chairman of law firm Paul Weiss, who co-led a committee of lawyers across the country who supported Ms. Harris during the primary.
In speeches, private fundraisers and announcements, Ms. Harris also has made clear that she won’t tolerate wrongdoing. She has said she might support proposals that could curb the advantages of big businesses or the wealthy.
Chief among those ideas: a tax of financial transactions, a policy also favored by Ms. Warren that would eat into Wall Street profits. Ms. Harris has said she would use the tax to pay for a government-run health-care plan that would still allow a limited role for private insurers.
Ms. Harris hasn’t served on the Senate Banking Committee and has had limited direct dealings with Wall Street, but she has taken some political shots at big business.
She said the Paycheck Protection Program, a $670 billion pot of emergency-loan money for companies, was “put in place to help sustain our small businesses, not to fill the pockets of large, wealthy corporations” and called for more transparency about where the money went.
In 2011, she pulled out of a national mortgage settlement with big banks and pursued a separate, costly settlement for California, a decision that catapulted her political career. But some officials involved in the negotiations have said her efforts to hold banks accountable amounted more to style—seen at times as impeding a resolution—than substance.
“Not great for financial [companies] but not a game changer,” KBW analyst Brian Gardner wrote in a note to clients.
—Ben Eisen contributed to this article.
Write to Emily Glazer at emily.glazer@wsj.com and Liz Hoffman at liz.hoffman@wsj.com
Corrections & Amplifications
KBW analyst Brian Gardner wrote his client note on Wednesday. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said he did so on Thursday. (Corrected on Aug. 12)
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