Mark Rowan, perhaps the most important economic job candidate in the U.S. government, is CEO of Apollo Global Management. Apollo Global Management is a private equity behemoth, an industry notorious for its strict standards that seek profit at all costs.
The 62-year-old executive’s induction into Donald Trump’s Cabinet could represent a major victory for one of the most powerful (and often despised) financial sectors if he is nominated and confirmed. .
As Treasury Secretary, Mr. Rowan will have direct oversight of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, which is nominally responsible for the “non-bank” sector, including the private equity industry, of which he is currently a major player. It is responsible for monitoring the financial system. The Treasury Department also houses the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which regulates the IRS and banks.
What’s more, as Treasury secretary, Mr. Rowan could ensure that these regulatory agencies continue to treat private equity as they have in the past, under both Democratic and Republican administrations. In other words, they are mostly left alone.
“Regulations don’t really exist,” says Bill Lazonick, president of the nonprofit Academic and Industrial Research Network. “We don’t even know what private equity owns. It’s all protected by different types of deals and corporate structures.”
It is impossible to know what kind of Treasury Secretary Rowan will be if elected. It’s not uncommon for industry leaders to join government agencies that regulate the companies they previously worked for, and their reputations can be described as mixed.
Learn more about Rowan here.
