What You Need to Know
- Gensler is former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
- He earned a reputation as an aggressive regulator following the financial crises
- He is pro-fiduciary
Gary Gensler, the former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, will be President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to become the new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to Reuters.
“A knowledgeable and aggressive choice,” Nick Morgan, a partner at the global defense firm Paul Hastings, told ThinkAdvisor in a Tuesday email message. “As the chair of the CFTC during the Obama administration, Gensler earned a reputation as an aggressive regulator following the financial crises, particularly in his pursuit of the LIBOR manipulation cases.”
Gensler, however, “does not have the criminal prosecution background that [former SEC chair] Mary Jo White had, which may suggest a more career regulator approach than a ‘tough on crime’ approach,” Morgan said.