The SEC is poised to be back at full strength after the Senate confirmed Elad Roisman to fill the regulator’s open Republican seat, likely providing a boost for the Trump-appointed chairman who leads the agency.
Roisman, who has been serving as chief counsel to the Senate Banking Committee, will join the SEC as Chairman Jay Clayton tries to secure enough support from commissioners to pass rules on his agenda. Near the top of Clayton’s list is a sweeping effort to overhaul conflict-of-interest regulations for Wall Street brokers. He will probably need Roisman’s vote to get the proposal over the goal line.
Nearly two-thirds of advisors surveyed this month said that internal training programs or workshops were offered by their firms.
Virtually every major firm on Wall Street has joined the push into private markets, with many trying to get in early on the biggest "next big thing" to hit financial services since the exchange-traded fund.
Traci Parks has been a copy editor at American Banker since 2023. She's worked at Scholastic National Partnerships and many fashion magazines, including V Magazine where she was also a contributing writer. As a playwright, her work has been produced in New York, Seattle and Los Angeles.
Since early July, the typically five-member SEC has been down to Clayton, Republican Commissioner Hester Peirce, and Democrats Kara Stein and Robert Jackson Jr. Commissioners have been approving enforcement actions against companies and individuals accused of wrongdoing. But amid policy disputes, the agency hasn’t tackled some of the bigger issues that Clayton has said he wants to get done. Clayton is a political independent who leans to the right.
Besides the brokerage rule, Clayton has said he wants to remove SEC barriers that may make it difficult for companies to raise money and enable more investors to buy stakes in less-regulated assets. The SEC also intends to finalize a rule that would make it easier for investment firms to win approval for new ETFs and, along with other regulators, needs to sign-off on changes to the Volcker Rule.
Before working for Senate Republicans, Roisman served as an aide to former SEC Commissioner Daniel Gallagher. He also worked as a lawyer for NYSE Euronext, according to his LinkedIn profile.
With Roisman’s appointment, Republicans could have a big advantage at the SEC by year end. Stein has to step down as a Democrat commissioner in December. Senate Democrats want President Donald Trump to pick Allison Lee, a former SEC enforcement attorney, to replace Stein, people familiar with the matter said last month. But Trump hasn’t yet nominated Lee, raising the possibility that the SEC will be comprised of Clayton, two Republicans and one Democrat when Stein leaves.
