Wall Street lawyer Jay Clayton is Donald Trump’s selection to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission, the presidential transition team announced Wednesday.
“If confirmed, we are going to work together with key stakeholders in the financial system to make sure we provide investors and our companies with the confidence to invest together in America,” Clayton said in a statement.
“We will carefully monitor our financial sector, as we set policy that encourages American companies to do what they do best: create jobs,” he added.
Clayton is with the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, where he’s a partner. He has repped Goldman Sachs and Barclays Capital.
“We need to undo many regulations which have stifled investment in American businesses, and restore oversight of the financial industry in a way that does not harm American workers,” President-elect Trump said in a statement.
Clayton will succeed SEC chair Mary Jo White, another lawyer with a long history of working for an elite Wall Street law firm.
Clayton would take over the SEC at a time when congressional Republicans are pressuring the agency to loosen fundraising rules for smaller public companies, lighten its oversight of private equity firms, and repeal executive compensation rules opposed by corporations.