NEW YORK, Jan. 4 (UPI) — President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Jay Clayton, a Wall Street lawyer, to head the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Clayton works on public and private mergers, as well as acquisitions, capital market offerings and regulatory proceedings as a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.
“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 said in a statement on Wednesday.
“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.”
Trump’s transition team said Clayton’s tenure in the SEC will be hallmarked by “robust accountability” and that Clatyon will bring to the job “decades of experience helping companies navigate complex federal regulations,” which will assist the Trump administration in “unleashing the job-creating power of our economy by encouraging investment in American companies while providing strong oversight of Wall Street and related industries.”
Clayton’s top priority, the transition team says, will be “the financial security of the American people.”
Clayton earned his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law in 1993. At the SEC, he will replace Mary Jo White, who announced after the election that she was stepping down.
“I want to thank President-elect Trump for the opportunity to serve as SEC Chairman,” Clayton said in a statement. “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. We will carefully monitor our financial sector, as we set policy that encourages American companies to do what they do best: create jobs.”
