“Finances serve the economy better when markets operate under common sense rules,” said Gensler in 2013, before leaving the agency.
Gensler, now a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, led the review of financial regulatory agencies in the Biden transition, including the SEC and the Federal Reserve. He previously served in President Bill Clinton’s Treasury Department and as chief financial officer for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
When he headed the CFTC under President Barack Obama, Gensler spearheaded efforts to impose a mountain of rules on the financial derivatives market known as swaps, which fueled the 2008 banking crisis as they were traded without regulation. His initial appointment to the CFTC was contested by progressives like Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), But he came out as one of the government’s most important regulators after the collapse.
If selected, Gensler would take charge of a much larger agency that has an even greater influence on the economy through regulation of the stock market and private bonds. The SEC took a largely pro-business stance during the Trump administration, and Democrats plan to put pressure on the independent agency to draft a series of new rules, including mandatory disclosures of climate risks in companies and disclosures of potentially political spending.
Gensler did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Biden’s transition declined to comment.
On Tuesday, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, the Democrat who will head SEC oversight as chairman of the Banking Committee, said he had spoken to Biden’s potential SEC candidates. Under Biden, Brown said he hoped there would be a “more pro-consumer attitude” and a “more antagonistic” approach to Wall Street at financial regulators.
Kellie Mejdrich contributed to this report.