The Trump administration is preparing to nominate J. Christopher Giancarlo as chairman of the CFTC, elevating the former brokerage executive to the full-time head of the top U.S. derivatives regulator. Mr. Giancarlo, the commission’s sole Republican at the moment, is serving as acting Chairperson, having succeeded Timothy Massad, who stepped down as chairman at the end of the Obama administration.

If confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Giancarlo is expected to adopt a more industry-friendly approach to overseeing banks and other financial firms in the multi-trillion-dollar derivatives market. While in the minority party at the CFTC, Giancarlo has maintained an alternative regulatory vision, with a focus on trading rules for swaps, which he maintains have been unsuitable because they aren’t in accord with what Congress intended. For one thing, it’s believed he could ease the commission’s swap-trading requirements and aspects of the CFTC’s plan to boost oversight of HFT firms.

Prior to joining the CFTC in 2014, Mr. Giancarlo, an attorney, was an EVP at swaps broker GFI Group, one of several firms affected by new swaps rules under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul.