Trump SEC pick has no ‘specific’ Dodd-Frank plan

• President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission said he has no specific plans to dismantle regulations implemented under the Dodd- Frank Act, but that the new administration wants to examine whether the 2010 law is stifling economic growth.

“Dodd- Frank should be looked at, in particular rules that have been in place as to whether they are achieving their objectives effectively,” Wall Street lawyer Jay Clayton said during his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday. “But, I have no specific plans to” attack the legislation, he said.

Clayton, a Sullivan & Cromwell partner whose clients included Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management, also told members of the Senate Banking Committee that his work for financial firms would be a strength should he win confirmation to run Wall Street’s top regulator.

The finance industry expects Clayton to play a key role in Trump’s stated goal of going after Dodd- Frank, particularly with congressional Republicans making little headway in pushing legislation that would scrap major elements of the law. In recent years, the SEC’s agenda has been dominated with implementing rules required under Dodd-Frank.

Democrats have argued that Clayton’s legal career representing big banks and hedge funds makes him a questionable choice to lead the SEC, because he might favour Wall Street’s interests over those of investors. Republicans, meanwhile, have said his experience is exactly what the SEC needs to cut regulations they say discourages companies from using public markets to raise money.

Critics have sought to lump Clayton in with other Trump picks with deep ties to Goldman Sachs, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, a former partner at the firm, and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, who was the bank’s president before joining the administration.

If confirmed, Clayton would have to recuse himself for a year from matters involving Sullivan & Cromwell and companies he represented. He also would be barred from ever weighing in on specific business deals or investigations he worked on as a private lawyer.

When Trump announced Clayton as his choice to be SEC chairman, the president said he wanted the agency to encourage investment in U.S. companies to boost economic growth and job creation.