US equity and bond markets were CLOSED overnight for the Martin Luther King holiday.

President-elect Joe Biden’s team confirmed overnight it planned to nominate two consumer champions to lead top financial agencies, signalling a tougher stance on the industry than many had anticipated. Gary Gensler will serve as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Federal Trade Commission member Rohit Chopra will head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Mr Gensler is expected to pursue new corporate disclosures on climate change related-risks, political spending, and the composition and treatment of company workforces, and to complete post-crisis executive compensation curbs, among other rules. Mr Chopra is expected to review payday lending and debt-collection rules