SEC chair Gensler appeared to suggest a departure from the commission in a speech on Thursday through a thinly veiled farewell message.
“Before I close, I want to say something about the SEC and its staff. It’s a remarkable agency. The staff and Commission are deeply mission-driven, focused on protecting investors, maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitating capital formation.
“[…] It’s been a great honour to serve with them, doing the people’s work, and ensuring that our capital markets remain the best in the world.”
The words came during his ‘Car Keys, Football, and Effective Administration’ speech yesterday, 14 November, for the Practicing Law Institute’s 56th Annual Institute on Securities Regulation.
Read more: US Senate approves Gensler for SEC chair role
Gensler went on share some personal details in his conclusion, highlighting that neither of his parents had completed university or worked in finance, instead investing their savings and benefitting from the securities markets’ ‘common-sense rules of the road’.
“The SEC’s effective administration of well-regulated securities markets promotes trust. It’s what brings investors and issuers to the market like fans to a football game. It’s what underpins the world’s largest capital markets. It’s what has contributed to our nation’s great economic success these last 90 years.
“[…] I’ve been proud to serve with my colleagues at the SEC who, day in and day out, work to protect American families on the highways of finance.”
Gensler’s was appointed by the US Senate to chair the SEC in 2021, as part of the then-freshly appointed administration of President Joe Biden.
Prior to his various roles in public service, he spent 18 years at US investment bank Goldman Sachs working in mergers and acquisitions, fixed income and currency trading, and treasury.
During his tenure, Gensler has faced consistent scrutiny from the market where some questioned his heavy-handed approach to regulation, with some having gone as far as to suggest that in some instances the SEC’s approach has been not only ‘over-reaching’ but also in some cases potentially ‘unconstitutional’.
Notably, Gensler’s potential departure comes as the incoming president prepares to begin their new term in two months’ time.
The SEC had not responded to The TRADE’s request for comment at the time of publishing.