Trump picks Wall Street lawyer to chair SEC

President-elect Donald Trump says he’ll nominate Wall Street attorney Jay Clayton to head the SEC. Clayton has both strong ties to Wall Street and experience with regulatory issues

Trump picks Wall Street lawyer to chair SEC

President-elect Donald Trump said today that he would nominate attorney Jay Clayton to head the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Clayton is a partner with the New York law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, according to a New York Times report. As chair of the SEC, he will be responsible for “encouraging investment in American companies” and “providing strong oversight of Wall Street and related industries,” Trump’s communications office said in a statement.

“We will carefully monitor our financial sector, as we set policy that encourages American companies to do what they do best: create jobs,” Clayton said in his own statement.”

Clayton is the latest Trump appointment with strong ties to Wall Street, according to the Times. He represented Goldman Sachs, Ally, Bear Stearns and other Wall Street giants during the financial crisis, according to a HousingWire report.

Clayton also helped take Alibaba Group public in the largest IPO in history and advised Barclays Capital when it acquired Lehman Brothers after that firm collapsed in 2008, according to the Times.