FINRA Comments After Senate Confirms Jay Clayton as SEC Chairman

After the Senate confirmed Jay Clayton as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday, the financial and regulatory associations have wasted little time in commenting and congratulating Trump’s nominee.

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In a statement following the confirmation, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the largest independent regulator for all securities firms ‎doing business in the United States, issued the following statement:

“FINRA would like to extend congratulations to Jay Clayton on his confirmation as SEC Chairman. Jay’s broad experience and his keen understanding of capital markets and securities regulation will serve all market participants well as the SEC works to ensure that safe, strong securities markets remain a cornerstone of the U.S. economy. I look forward to working with him in his new role,” said Robert W. Cook, President and CEO of FINRA

During his Senate confirmation hearing, Mr. Clayton didn’t reveal many details of his regulatory agenda or where he stands on issues affecting the retail brokerage industry.

Interestingly, most Senate Democrats were opposed to Mr. Clayton’s nomination. They said that the SEC would have weaker enforcement under Clayton’s leadership as he may excuse himself from disciplinary actions because of his former Wall Street clients, which include many major financial firms.

Mr. Clayton is a partner at the prominent Wall Street law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, where he specialized in financial firm mergers and acquisitions and capital markets offerings. Previously, Mr. Clayton served as the US Attorney and managed to overtake Debra Wong Yang, who was previously rumored to have been seen as a top candidate for the position. In addition to Ms. Yang and Mr. Clayton, the SEC commissioner Paul Atkins and lawyer Ralph Ferrara were also mentioned as potential picks for the role.