(Bloomberg) -- Despite chatter around the prospects of financial deregulation, it’s unlikely President-elect Donald Trump will leave the financial sector vulnerable to further financial crises by firing too many officials, according to Guggenheim Securities Co-Chair Jim Millstein.
“There could be a wholesale slaughter of regulators at all levels under the Trump administration — I doubt it,” Millstein said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “I think people understand that we don’t want to get so deregulated” to risk a repeat of the mistakes that led to the 2008 financial crisis.
Much of the US financial sector is eyeing a regulatory reprieve under Trump, with bank stock prices jumping in the wake of his election win. While key regulatory officials have yet to be nominated, Trump is expected to appoint officials who are likely to ease restrictions and allow more risk in the economy.
Millstein, who worked in the Treasury Department’s financial-stability office under former President Barack Obama, also said that he’s not envious of the task ahead for whoever will next lead the department, given the pressure to finance and refinance the growing trillions of US government debt.
“Pity the new Treasury secretary,” he said. “The first job is going to be to figure out is he selling coupons? Is he selling bills? What’s he doing to try to moderate the impact of the deficit?”
--With assistance from Sonali Basak.
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