Trump-pick Icahn: ‘Mediocre’ CEOs beware

President-elect Donald Trump Wednesday named Carl Icahn as his special adviser on regulatory reform.

Icahn’s appointment may indicate that the Trump administration will look to shape a regulatory environment that will be tougher on company boards.

The activist investor will play a role in choosing the heads of regulatory agencies like the Securities and Ex- change Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Icahn is not against all regulations and believes public company boards should be more accountable, he told The Post.

“There are too many protections for mediocre CEOs,” he said. “An SEC chair could make a public company CEO at least as accountable as the CEO of a family-run business.”

A new SEC chair could push public companies to disclose more in their earnings, and that could reduce profits.

Icahn has said in the past that he supports the Volcker Rule, which prevents banks from making certain kinds of risky investments. The SEC and CFTC regulate the controversial Volcker Rule.

“There are many very good regulations, but the problem is there are also many regulations that are just ab- surd,” Icahn told The Post. “If you want jobs in this country, you cannot have business perceive that the government is at war with them.”

Trump, in announcing Icahn’s appointment, said the investor “is not only a brilliant negotiator but also someone who is innately able to predict the future, especially having to do with finances and economies. His help on the strangling regulations that our country is faced with will be invaluable.”