Preet Bharara Is Candidate for SEC, Putting Bankers on Edge (1)

Joe Biden’s presidential transition has barely started but already banks and investment firms are anxious about two names they fear are in the running to lead the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The uneasiness started late last week, when news broke that Gary Gensler -- a scourge of Wall Street when he led the Commodity Futures Trading Commission -- had been tapped to examine financial regulators for the president-elect. That fueled concerns that Gensler himself might be in line for the top job at the SEC or another agency he’s reviewing.

Then Washington lobbyists and industry trade groups got wind ...