Jeb Hensarling, who previously held one of the most powerful positions on Capitol Hill as chairman of the House committee that oversees the financial services industry and spent years advocating for the deregulation of said financial services industry, is now joining… the financial services industry.
Hensarling, a Republican from Texas, began serving in Congress in 2003, and assumed the influential role of chairman of the House Financial Services Committee in 2013. Hensarling retired from Congress earlier this year after announcing in 2017 that he would not seek re-election in 2018.
Now, after spending years pushing for reduced regulation over financial services providers, Hensarling is joining one of those companies.
UBS announced this week that Hensarling is joining the company as executive vice chairman of the Americas.
In this role, Hensarling will focus on “building and strengthening client relationships,” UBS said.
“Jeb will work closely with our leadership team, financial advisors and bankers to build and strengthen our most important client relationships across our businesses,” said Tom Naratil, president UBS Americas and co-president Global Wealth Management.
“With a long career in both politics and business, Jeb will be a great addition to our shared efforts to deliver insights and ideas that differentiate UBS in the eyes of our clients,” Naratil added.
Prior to serving in Congress, Hensarling spent time in the financial services and energy industries, and practiced both corporate and real estate law, according to details provided by UBS.
While serving as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Hensarling pushed for the rollback of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act. Hensarling formalized his push in 2016 when he introduced the Financial CHOICE Act, which would have repealed Dodd-Frank.
The bill died in the Senate, but several of its tenets were included in the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act, which rolled back some parts of Dodd-Frank.
Hensarling stood by President Donald Trump’s side when Trump signed the bill into law last year.
Hensarling was also a long-time advocate for reforming the country’s housing finance system, having introduced several different housing finance reform bills throughout his years in Washington.
And now, Hensarling will ply his craft at UBS in Dallas, a change he says he’s excited for.
“I’m looking forward to starting a new career in banking and am grateful for the opportunity to join UBS Americas,” Hensarling said. “It is exciting for me to be able to join the world’s leading wealth management firm and to work with some of the most talented people in the financial services industry.”
