It’s been a giddy week on Wall Street. Donald Trump’s thumping victory in the US presidential race has bankers and private equity titans dreaming that he will loosen the regulatory reins while driving up demand for dealmaking and financing of many sorts.
More immediately, the results have all but doomed the Biden administration’s efforts to impose higher bank capital requirements as well as looming new rules on everything from climate disclosure to outsourcing.
You can almost hear “ding-dong the witch is dead” playing in the background as executives enthuse about saying goodbye to Gary Gensler as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Michael Barr as head of supervision at the Federal Reserve.