Change And Continuity In Securities Regulation

The election of Donald Trump as the next President and the continued Republican control of Congress raise questions as to what changes may be expected at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) and what may stay the same. Although Mr. Trump has called for a repeal of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act), he has provided few specifics about changes to the federal securities laws and what role he expects the SEC to play, what type of SEC Chair or other Commissioners he is likely to nominate, or how the financial markets would be policed.

Current SEC Chair Mary Jo White already has announced that she will be stepping down at the end of the Obama Administration, leaving three Commissioner openings for the Trump Administration. The President-elect's transition team for the independent financial agencies is being led by Paul Atkins, a former SEC Commissioner with a deregulatory focus. He will