Gary Gensler, chairman of the Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), speaks at a Senate Banking Committee hearing in Washington, DC, USA, Tuesday, July 30, 2013.
Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Gary Gensler will head the Securities and Exchange Commission after the Senate voted 53-45 on Wednesday to confirm his appointment as the nation’s top financial regulator.
Gensler, elected to the role of President Joe Biden, will now play a key role in enforcing and developing the rules governing Wall Street, investors and a wide range of other financial institutions.
Now, with SEC commissioners holding a 3-2 Democratic majority, Gensler is likely to have a long list of tasks after settling into his new job.
Progressives expect the 63-year-old to live up to his promises to look at a range of topics, including digital currencies, GameStop trading mania and how corporate America prioritizes environmental, social and governance issues.
Senator Sherrod Brown, chairman 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 clear to most people that the stock market is detached from the realities of working families’ lives,” the Ohio Democrat said in a statement. “Mr Gensler will bring the SEC’s attention back to the people who make this country work and put pressure to ensure that markets are a way for families to save and invest … not a game for hedge fund managers where workers always lose “
Gensler, a former Goldman Sachs executive, is probably best known in Washington for his relentless work at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, where he designed the regulatory framework for the multi-billion dollar financial instruments market.
Democrats and Republicans asked Gensler in March if he would consider payment for order flow and the game-type tactics used by brokerages to attract customers to their platforms. Both subjects received attention on Capitol Hill this year, after the wild trading in January in GameStop, AMC Entertainment and other stocks.
Gensler also noted potential problems with the current payment structure for the order flow, a common practice on Wall Street where commercial firms such as Citadel Securities pay companies to send orders to their execution customers.
Asked how the SEC should regulate bitcoin and other digital assets, he replied that the responsibility could fall to the government depending on how assets such as bitcoin are classified. One of his oldest and most anticipated decisions as head of the SEC will be whether to allow the creation of a publicly traded fund.
Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., A member of the rankings, asked Gensler’s thoughts in March on the Nasdaq’s pressure to increase diversity on boards.
Republicans have denounced a recent plan submitted by the exchange operator to the SEC, which would require thousands of listed companies to include women, racial minorities and LGBT people on their boards.
Gensler responded by promoting the benefits of diversity more widely and among the ranks of the SEC.