SEC nominee faces tough scrutiny
WASHINGTON Goldman Sachs may be about to get another friend in Washington.
Jay Clayton, a well-connected Wall Street lawyer who is U.S. President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, is sure to face sharp questions from Democrats at his confirmation hearing Thursday over his years of work for Goldman and other financial giants.
Trump has already drawn upon Goldman alumni for key financial posts in his administrations — notably for Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, and the head of the National Economic Council, Gary Cohn.
As SEC chairman, Clayton would be in charge of, among other things, protecting investors from wrongdoing on Wall Street.
For critics, the big question will be: How vigorous a regulator would Clayton prove to be?
In line with Trump’s pledge to ease many rules that flowed from the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory law, a Clayton-led SEC would be expected to take a comparatively loose approach to regulation.
Though Clayton’s confirmation is virtually assured, Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee say they will come prepared Thursday with a volley of skeptical questions.
“It’s hard to see how an attorney who’s spent his career helping Wall Street beat the rap will keep (Trump’s) promise to stop big banks and hedge funds from ‘getting away with murder,” Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, the committee’s senior Democrat, said after Clayton’s nomination was announced. Among the targets for critics is Clayton’s blue-chip client list, brimming with Wall Street powerhouses and hedge funds as well as some corporations that have faced accusations of misconduct.