Obama picks ex-Treasury official Gensler for CFTC

CHICAGO (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama has decided to name former Treasury official Gary Gensler to head the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, which regulates the U.S. commodity futures and options market, a Democratic official said on Thursday.

Gensler served as U.S. undersecretary of the Treasury from 1999 to 2001 and assistant secretary of the Treasury from 1997 to 1999. He is one of three people named by Obama's transition team to review the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Gensler advised Sen. Paul Sarbanes on the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate reform law and is a former partner at Goldman Sachs.