WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden’s choice to head the Securities and Exchange Commission is coming before a Senate panel for his confirmation hearing at a moment when a roiling stock-trading drama has spurred clamor for tighter regulation of Wall Street.
Gary Gensler, a chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission during the Obama administration, has experience as a tough markets regulator during the financial crisis.
More recently he has been in the academic world. Biden’s selection of Gensler to lead the SEC signals a goal of turning the Wall Street watchdog agency toward an activist role after a deregulatory stretch during the Trump administration.