Former Sen. Judd Gregg is a leading candidate to run Wall Street’s biggest lobbying group, according to people briefed on the discussions.
Gregg, 66, a New Hampshire Republican who retired from the Senate last year, is being considered for the post as president and chief executive officer of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, said four people who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter isn’t public.
Gregg declined to comment. SIFMA spokeswoman Cheryl Crispin said the search for a CEO hasn’t been completed and declined to comment further.
If chosen, Gregg would replace Tim Ryan, who left for JPMorgan Chase & Co. earlier this year. SIFMA’s head lobbyist, Kenneth E. Bentsen, 53, has been acting CEO and also has been a candidate for the top position, the people said.
Gregg has served as an adviser to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. since retiring from the Senate after serving since January 1993. He nearly joined the Obama administration in 2009 as Commerce Secretary. Shortly after the president nominated him for the post, Gregg withdrew from consideration because of disagreements with administration policy, including the economic stimulus package pushed by Obama.
One of the biggest tasks faced by the new head of the association will be to rebuild Wall Street’s image and credibility in Washington where the biggest banks have been blamed for sparking the 2008 credit crisis and sending the U.S. economy into a tailspin.
Lawmakers have reserved particular scorn for the largest firms, including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, summoning their executives to hearings and accusing them of reaping profits at the expense of shareholders, customers and the economy.
Gregg was one of the leading lawmakers to draw up legislation that authorized the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program to bail out banks. As a Senate Banking Committee member, he opposed proposals to separate banks’ derivatives units and said the Dodd-Frank legislation would reduce credit availability.
SIFMA has played a major role helping the industry influence the hundreds of regulations being written at the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission and other agencies arising from the Dodd-Frank law. The group is also taking a lead in fighting legislative efforts to break up “too-big-to-fail” banks. Members include Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp.
