Gary Gensler, Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), speaks at a Senate Banking Committee hearing in Washington, DC, USA, on Tuesday, July 30, 2013.
Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty images
Gary Gensler will lead the Securities and Exchange Commission after the Senate voted 53-45 Wednesday to confirm his appointment as the country’s chief financial regulator.
Gensler, chosen for the role by President Joe Biden, will now play a key role in enforcing and enforcing the rules that govern Wall Street, investors and a wide variety of other financial entities.
Now that the SEC commissioners have a 3-2 Democratic majority, Gensler will likely have a long to-do list after settling into his new job.
Progressives expect the 63-year-old to deliver on his promises to delve into a range of topics, including digital currencies, the GameStop trading mania and how corporate America prioritizes environmental, social and governance issues.
Senator Sherrod Brown, the chair of the Senate Banking Committee, was quick to praise Gensler after the vote.
“Mr. Gensler will lead the SEC at a time when it is becoming increasingly apparent to most people that the stock market is disconnected from the realities of working families’ lives,” the Ohio Democrats said in a statement. Mr. Gensler will bring the SEC’s focus back to the people who make this country work and ensure that markets are a way for families to save and invest for their children’s education, a down payment for a house and for a safe retirement – not a game for hedge fund managers where employees always lose. “
Gensler, a former Goldman Sachs executive, is perhaps best known in Washington for his tenacious work at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, where he devised the regulatory framework for the multi-billion dollar derivatives market.
Democrats and Republicans alike asked Gensler in March if he would investigate payment for the order flow and game-like tactics used by brokers to lure customers to their platforms. Both topics got attention on Capitol Hill this year after the wild trade of GameStop, AMC Entertainment and other stocks in January.
Gensler also noted potential problems with the current order flow payment structure, a common practice on Wall Street where trading firms, such as Citadel Securities, pay companies to send their clients’ orders for execution.
When asked how the SEC should regulate bitcoin and other digital assets, he replied that responsibility could fall on the government depending on how assets such as bitcoin are classified. One of his first and most anticipated decisions as the head of the SEC will be whether he will allow the creation of a bitcoin exchange-traded fund.
Ranking member Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., Asked in March for Gensler’s views on Nasdaq’s drive to increase board diversity.
Republicans have disapproved of a recent plan filed by the stock market operator with the SEC that would require the thousands of companies listed on the stock exchange to include women, racial minorities and LGBT individuals on their boards.
Gensler responded by promoting the benefits of diversity more widely and among the ranks of the SEC.