The former chair of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Gary Gensler is a 64-year-old staunch Democrat from Baltimore, Maryland whose entire career had been spent in finance, both in the private and government sectors.
According to the SEC website, Gensler, known as “Mr. Clean” at Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), was nominated by President Biden to chair the SEC in February 2021 and was narrowly confirmed by the Senate in a 53-45 vote in which nearly all Republican votes were tallied against Gensler.
Following the well-known 'meme stock frenzy' that involved stocks like GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) and AMC Entertainment Inc (NYSE:AMC), retail traders were piqued by Gensler's appointment to the SEC in 2021. He was known for supporting retail investors, and opposing the way the trades of retail investors were routed, known as Payment For Order Flow (PFOF), used by many brokerages including Robinhood Markets Inc. (NASDAQ:HOOD).
Related: SEC Chair Gensler Could Restrict Payment For Order Flow This Week: What Investors Need To Know
“Retail being part of the [trading and investing] mix — and a growing part of the mix — can be good as long as there’s a real cop on the beat looking at the rules in place,” Gensler said.
“Mr. Clean” is speaking at the Piper Sandler Global Exchange and Fintech Conference on Wednesday, where he is expected to detail the 2021 plans to overhaul the way retail investors' orders are routed.
Now that you have a good idea of Gensler's philosophy, let’s look at some facts that you may not know about the man.
1. Career at Goldman Sachs
Gensler began work at Goldman in 1979. At the age of 30 he became a partner at the firm, one of the youngest to achieve the coveted status. He spent the 1980s working as a top mergers and acquisitions banker, having assumed responsibility for Goldman's efforts in advising media companies.
2. Gensler’s relationship with the NFL
While serving at Goldman, Gensler was the head of a team that captured the then-most lucrative deal in television history. According to New York Times archives, in 1990 Gensler secured a $3.6 billion deal with five networks, including ESPN (NYSE:DIS) and Turner Broadcasting Systems (NASDAQ:WBD) for the rights to televise games through 1994 that provided each of the 16 teams with $32 million a year, compared with the $17 million each received under the current contract.
3. Relationship With The 2008 Financial Crisis
Former President Barack Obama nominated Gensler for the chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. He worked closely with Congress, the Obama administration, and other regulators to transform the murky over-the-counter financial derivatives markets worth around $400 trillion at the time.
Gensler also helped implement the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Photo: Courtesy of Third Way Think Tank on Flickr
