CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler
Gary Gensler is the chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) under President Barack Obama. Gensler was Undersecretary of the Treasury (1999-2001) and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury (1997-1999) in the United States. Barack Obama selected him to lead the CFTC, which has jurisdiction over $5 trillion in trades. Gensler was sworn in on May 26, 2009.
Why Do You Care?
Gary Gensler is one of the most controversial public servants to serve in the Obama administration. As CFTC chairman, Gensler has been subject to a storm of criticism stemming from his perceived ties to the financial community that he is supposed to be monitoring.
Although conflicts of interest are often difficult to prove, some have argued that Obama's administration has had more issues than usual in it's quest for progressive appointees.
The Republican Party did it's best to prevent Gensler's appointment, despite his extensive commodities background. Gensler has argued for stronger regulation for financial derivatives, and yet some have argued that he has failed to show that he is truly independent from the financial industry.
Gensler has vigorously enforced the Dodd-Frank Act. Dodd-Frank changed the existing regulatory structure by creating a host of new agencies, while merging and removing others, in an effort to streamline the regulatory process. It increases oversight of U.S. regulatory authorities regarded as a systemic risk and amended the Federal Reserve Act, promoting transparency.
The Act establishes rigorous standards and supervision to protect the economy and American consumers, investors and businesses; ends taxpayer funded bailouts of financial institutions;, provides for an advanced warning system on the stability of the economy; creates rules on executive compensation and corporate governance; and eliminates the loopholes that led to the economic recession.