US: Trump taps Wall Street lawyer to head SEC

Jay Clayton has made a career as a Wall Street lawyer. Now he will become become the financial industry’s top watchdog.

On Wednesday, the Trump transition team named Clayton as their nominee for the next chairman of the Securities & Exchange Commission. If confirmed, he is expected to help usher in a period of deregulation, including rolling back parts of the Dodd-Frank Act.

Clayton is currently a partner with the New York-based law firm Sullivan & Cromwell and has represented some of the biggest names on Wall Street. During the financial crisis, he advised Goldman Sachs when it was receiving TARP bailout funds and a $5 billion investment from Berkshire Hathaway. He also advised Bear Stearns on its shotgun sale to JPMorgan Chase in 2008.

He has helped companies navigate regulatory matters, according to his biography on the law firm’s website, including working with large financial companies to reach settlements with the government over mortgage-related securities claims from the financial crisis.

Much of Clayton’s work has to do with mergers, acquisitions and initial public offerings, and he was involved with Alibaba’s record-breaking public debut, the sale of the Atlanta Hawks NBA team and the British Airways merger with Iberia.

“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,” said President-elect Trump in prepared remarks.

Full Content: Forbes

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