Prominent industry figures have applauded the appointment of Gary Gensler as the new chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission after he was confirmed in the role by a US Senate vote yesterday (May 19).
Gensler was appointed to his new role after the Senate voted 88-6 to approve President Barack Obama’s choice to run the CFTC.
The confirmation vote had been held up by concerns from some quarters of the Senate as to Gensler’s role in the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000. Critics said that a consequence of the Act was the exemption of credit default swaps from regulatory oversight, which has been widely seen as exacerbating the global financial crisis.
Senators Bernie...