According to Bloomberg, President Obama’s nominee for the next chairman to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is being met with skepticism by some members of the Senate.
Pending approval from the Senate, Timothy Massad, a Treasury Official, will be taking over for current CFTC chairman Gary Gensler. Many in the Senate feel that Massad has some very big shoes to fill, and some are unsure if he will be able to do it, doubting his experience and ability to oversee the $600 trillion dollar market.
Massad, 57, has been around for some time now, and certainly does seem to have relevant experience. Massad worked at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, where he successfully served as the senior associate in the effort to standardize swaps documents. It’s been said the he was quite skilled in taking a large number of varying opinions and managing to reach a consensus between all of them.
Massad also worked on the controversial Troubled Asset Relief Program to bail out Wall Street after the financial crisis of 2008. While Massad is aware that TARP was a very unfavorable solution, he does mention that it was in fact quick and effective. As of today, banks have paid back about 406.5 billion of the 421.5 billion loaned to them through the TARP program.