TheCorporateCounsel.net

With Gary Gensler on the way out, speculation quickly turned to who would become the next SEC chair? This excerpt from a recent Bloomberg Law article identifies the leading candidates:

Richard Farley, a partner at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, and Kirkland & Ellis partner Norm Champare among contenders to replace Gary Gensler as chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Robinhood Markets Inc. legal chief Dan Gallagher, current SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda and Heath Tarbert, a former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, are also among those being considered for the job, said other people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public.

Also in contention are former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins and Robert Stebbins, a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, some of the people said.

Commissioner Hester Peirce’s name has also surfaced, but she reportedly isn’t interested in the position and plans to leave the SEC when her current term expires.

Personally, I find it encouraging that the list of potential SEC chairs is composed mainly of people with significant private practice experience. One of the things that’s bothered me about the SEC’s willingness to put forward sweeping disclosure rule proposals in recent years is how few of the people deciding whether to adopt those rules have spent more than a token amount of time in their careers preparing or reviewing SEC filings.

Speaking of SEC Chairs, it looks like former SEC Chair Jay Clayton is on the short list to become Secretary of the Treasury.

– John Jenkins