The hedge fund’s chief executive delivered a strong case for calm Friday, and a call to combine the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

An emergency conference call transfixed Wall Street, where some fear that troubled hedge funds might dump investments into the already-shaky markets.

For Kenneth C. Griffin, who runs one of the biggest and most successful hedge fund firms, the entire banking industry needs to overhaul its thinking, and perhaps accept greater regulation.