TheCorporateCounsel.net

February 8, 2018

Former Congressman Scott Garrett to Join SEC Chair’s Office

Here’s the intro from this WSJ article by Dave Michaels and Andrew Ackerman:

Scott Garrett, a former Republican lawmaker known for criticizing what he considered government overreach by Wall Street regulators, has landed a senior role at the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Garrett, 58 years old, plans to take a position advising SEC Chairman Jay Clayton, according to people familiar with the matter. The job would represent a second act for Mr. Garrett, whom U.S. senators rejected last year as a pick to lead the U.S. Export-Import Bank under the Trump administration.

The hiring is a rare instance of a former lawmaker joining a federal agency in a staff role. Mr. Garrett, first elected to Congress in 2002, lost a re-election campaign for his northern New Jersey House seat in 2016. As a lawmaker, he routinely questioned the SEC’s regulations and priorities during the Obama administration.

Poll Results: Do You Care If the SEC Shuts Down?

A few weeks ago, the government shut down – but the SEC stayed open. Back then, I conducted a poll about whether folks cared if the SEC was closed.

Here’s the results:

– 47% said they wouldn’t notice
– 32% said they would take an early nap
– 8% said they’d call a lawyer
– 7% said they wouldn’t be able to sleep
– 6% said they’d drink themselves into a stew

Although a deal in Congress is brewing to avoid another shutdown at midnight tonight, it’s still possible that a deal won’t happen. There isn’t a note on the SEC’s home page yet about what would happen then – but I imagine the situation is like a few weeks ago. That the SEC has enough funds to keep the lights on for a “limited” amount of time…

More on “The Mentor Blog”

We continue to post new items daily on our blog – “The Mentor Blog” – for TheCorporateCounsel.net members. Members can sign up to get that blog pushed out to them via email whenever there is a new entry by simply inputting their email address on the left side of that blog. Here are some of the latest entries:

– SEC Continues to File Amicus Briefs in Support of Its “Whistleblower” Definition
– Halliburton: Eighth Circuit Upholds “Price Impact” Rebuttal of Rule 10b–5 Reliance Presumption
– Board Seats: “Reverse” Board Searches
– Why I’m So Passionate About Omnicare
– Must Directors Follow Company Policy on Shareholder Communications?

Broc Romanek