He passed.

The U.S. Senate voted 88-6 to confirm Gary Gensler as the new chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), according to the Associated Press. The CFTC regulates futures and options trading in commodities as well as credit default swaps and financial derivatives.

The timing is good (or at least “better late than never”). Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department unveiled a new plan for the CFTC to take a more prominent role in enforcing (new) rules related to credit default swaps and derivatives. ###