Gary Gensler's term as chairman of the U.S. agency writingregulations required by the Dodd-Frank Act for the global swapsmarket ends tomorrow. All the same, his ability to craft rules forcompanies including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase& Co. could extend at least until next year.

Federal rules permit Gensler, a Democrat, to remain as chairmanof the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission until the end of2013. If President Barack Obama loses re-election in November, hissuccessor could nominate a replacement as chairman earlier. WhiteHouse spokeswoman Amy Brundage declined to comment on whether thepresident will re-nominate Gensler.

“It's a fight not worth having because he's in place for anotheryear,” said Mark Calabria, an economist and the director offinancial studies at the Cato Institute and a former senior aidefor Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee. Calabria said hewould be surprised if the administration formally submits Genslerfor re-nomination this year.