Gary Gensler confirmed in the Senate that he would lead the SEC, Wall Street’s top regulator

Gary Gensler will lead the Securities and Exchange Commission after the Senate voted 53-45 on Wednesday to confirm his nomination to head the nation’s top financial regulator.

Gensler, chosen for the role by President Joe Biden, will now play a key role in enforcing and drafting 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 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 examine a wide range of issues, including digital currencies, GameStop’s bargaining craze, and how the U.S. business prioritizes environmental, social, and environmental issues governance.

Senator Sherrod Brown, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, was quick to offer praise to 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 disconnected from the reality of working families’ lives, ”the Ohio Democrat said. in a statement. “Mr Gensler will once again put the SEC’s focus on the people who make this country work and push markets to be a way to save and invest families … not a game for hedge fund managers where workers always lose “.

Gensler, a former Goldman Sachs executive, is perhaps best known in Washington for his inflexible work on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, where he devised the regulatory framework for the multimillion-dollar derivatives market.

Democrats and Republicans asked Gensler in March if he would analyze payment flow orders and the gameplay tactics brokers use to lure customers to their platforms. Both issues received attention on Capitol Hill this year after the January wild negotiation on GameStop, AMC Entertainment and other stocks.

Gensler also pointed to possible problems with the current payment structure for order flow, a common practice on Wall Street whereby commercial companies, such as Citadel Securities, pay companies to send them execution orders for their clients.

Asked how the SEC should regulate bitcoin and other digital assets, he replied that the responsibility could fall on the entire government depending on how assets such as bitcoin are classified. One of his earliest and most anticipated decisions as head of the SEC will be whether to allow the creation of a traded fund in exchange for bitcoins.

Ranking Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., In March, asked Gensler’s views on the Nasdaq push to increase diversity on business boards.

Republicans have denied a recent plan presented by the exchange operator to the SEC that would require the thousands of companies listed on its stock exchange to include women, racial minorities and LGBT people on its boards.

Gensler responded by presenting the benefits of diversity more broadly and among the ranks of the SEC.