Jay Clayton, chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will be concluding his tenure at the end of this year. After serving more than three-and-a-half years, Clayton will leave the SEC as one of its longest-serving chairs.
During his tenure, Clayton guided the agency through several major global shifts in financial regulation – some of which are still evolving –such as the EU’s adoption of the second Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) reforms, the transition away from LIBOR, and Brexit.
The timing of Clayton’s departure means his replacement will be among the first appointments made by the incoming president Joe Biden, who will enter The White House on 20 January 2021.
As the prospect of multiple viable vaccines to COVID-19 is now possible in the near-term, the next chair will be tasked with overseeing the largest capital market recovery effort since the 2007/08 global financial crisis.
The SEC says Clayton was responsible for strengthening the commission’s enforcement programmes, navigating changes in the markets and the COVID-19 pandemic and also led efforts to promote diversity, inclusion and opportunity in the workplace.
During Clayton’s tenure, the commission obtained orders for over $14 billion in monetary remedies, including a record $4.68 billion in fiscal year 2020, and returned approximately $3.5 billion to harmed investors.
In addition, the commission paid approximately $565 million to whistleblowers, including the largest single award in the programme’s history ($114 million) which was given out earlier this year.
Prior to joining the commission, Clayton was a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell where he was a member of the firm’s management committee and co-head of the firm’s corporate practice. From 2009 to 2017, Clayton was a lecturer in law and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Prior to joining Sullivan & Cromwell, Clayton served as a law clerk for the Honorable Marvin Katz of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and was a member of the New York and Washington, DC bars.
Clayton comments: “I am proud of our collective efforts to advance each part of the SEC’s tripartite mission, always with an eye on the interests of our main street investors.
“The US capital markets ecosystem is the strongest and most nimble in the world, and thanks to the hard work of the diverse and inclusive SEC team, we have improved investor protections, promoted capital formation for small and larger businesses, and enabled our markets to function more transparently and efficiently.”
