Trump Nominates Sullivan & Cromwell Partner To Lead SEC

The president-elect really can't get enough of Biglaw partners.

600px-US-SecuritiesAndExchangeCommission-Seal.svgEarlier today, we quipped that President-elect Donald Trump “can’t get enough of Biglaw partners” — and we really weren’t kidding. As we noted previously, partners from McGuireWoods, Morgan Lewis, Morrison & Foerster, Kirkland & Ellis, and Jones Day are present on his Justice Department transition team; a Jones Day partner will serve as his White House counsel; a Kasowitz Benson partner will serve as his ambassador to Israel; and a Skadden partner will serve as U.S. trade representative. Now, news has spread that Trump has selected yet another Biglaw partner to serve as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Which firm is grabbing the brass ring of a Trump administration appointment this time? Although it was originally thought that Debra Wong Yang of Gibson Dunn would take over for Mary Jo White at the helm of the SEC,[1] the honor will be going to Walter “Jay” Clayton of Sullivan & Cromwell, whose practice specialty involves advising clients on public and private mergers and acquisitions and capital-raising efforts.

Jay Clayton

Jay Clayton

According to his firm profile, Clayton, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, has represented high-profile clients like Goldman Sachs, Barclays Capital, Alibaba, and Och-Ziff Capital, just to name a few. Why would Trump select Clayton for this role? According to a report from Reuters, the president-elect may be signaling that the SEC will “scale back regulations that some critics see as burdensome and may be hindering corporate growth.” In fact, Trump said as much himself in a statement earlier this afternoon:

“Jay Clayton is a highly talented expert on many aspects of financial and regulatory law, and he will ensure our financial institutions can thrive and create jobs while playing by the rules at the same time,” Trump in a statement.

“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.”

Congratulations to Jay Clayton on his new role. We’d wish him luck in his Senate confirmation hearings, but we don’t think he’s going to have much of an issue.

[1] It’s worth noting that even when choosing between two elites, President-elect Trump goes for the white male. Yang is a Chinese-American woman.

Sponsored

Trump to Pick Deals Lawyer Clayton to Lead Wall Street Regulator [Big Law Business]
Trump to nominate Wall Street lawyer Clayton to lead SEC [Reuters]


Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. She’d love to hear from you, so feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Sponsored