President Donald Trump today named Securities and Exchange Commissioner Mark Uyeda as acting chairman of the agency.
Uyeda, a commissioner since June 30, 2022, will steer the SEC pending the confirmation of Trump nominee Rick Atkins. Acting Chair Uyeda wasted no time, announcing the formation of a new crypto task force. He named Commissioner Hester Peirce to lead the agency-wide effort to establish clear regulation, registration and disclosure, while creating "judicious enforcement." the SEC said.
Up until now, the nation’s top securities cop has relied heavily on enforcement action to regulate crypto, which has created confusion and hampered market competition. “The SEC can do better,” the agency added.
“We do not expect Senate confirmation hearings for Atkins to begin until the spring but it’s fluid,” a Washington, D.C., securities industry source who asked not to be identified told Financial Advisor magazine.
Uyeda was first sworn into office as a commissioner on June 30, 2022, after being confirmed by the Senate. He was subsequently renominated and confirmed for a five-year term expiring in 2028, the SEC said in a statement this morning.
“I am honored to serve in this capacity after serving as a Commissioner since 2022, and a member of the staff since 2006,” Uyeda said. “I have great respect for the knowledge, expertise, and experience of the agency and its people. The SEC has a vital mission—protecting investors, maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitating capital formation—that plays a key role in promoting innovation, jobs creation, and the American Dream.”
During Trump’s first term, Uyeda served on detail to senior leadership at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and to Secretary Eugene Scalia at the U.S. Department of Labor. He has also served on detail to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. At the SEC, he also served as senior advisor to Chairman Jay Clayton, counsel to Commissioners Michael S. Piwowar and Atkins, and assistant director and senior special counsel in the Division of Investment Management.
Gail Bernstein, general counsel and head of policy for the Investment Adviser Association, congratulated Uyeda: “We look forward to continuing to collaborate with him on priorities important to investment advisers and their clients, including reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens for small advisers."
With Uyeda serving six years as Atkins's former counsel when Atkins was an SEC Commissioner under President Bush, the handoff in power at the SEC should be relatively seamless.
The odds of confirmation are considered good for Atkins, a former SEC commissioner who is also a consultant and the co-chair of a crypto advocacy trade group.
IAA President Karen Barr said she sees Atkins leading the SEC away from former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler’s “regulation by enforcement”—new rules that were often tabled by lawsuits or industry outcry.
“Paul Atkins is well known. He’s well respected. He worked really well with staff and worked collaboratively with the industry in the past, so he will do his homework, talk to stakeholders and focus on cost-benefit analysis before proposing rules, which will be a good change of pace from the last couple of years,” Barr said.
The appointment of Uyeda as acting chair comes after Trump issued 80 executive orders during his first day in office pausing all federal regulation and instituting a hiring freeze throughout the federal government pending White House review, as he did during his first term.
It now falls to Uyeda to decide what to do with any pending regulations at the SEC.
The order also directs Uyeda and all other Trump-appointed agency heads to consider postponing for 60 days any regulation that hasn’t taken effect yet.