U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton announced that December 23, 2020 would be his last day at the helm of the agency.
This leads to the likely outcome that SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, or potentially Commissioner Elad Roisman, will serve as interim Chair until approximately January 20, 2021 when President-Elect Biden is sworn in as President. At that point, it is likely that SEC Commissioner Allison Lee will become acting Chair until a permanent Chair is nominated and confirmed. The nomination and confirmation process can take several months. For example, Chairman Clayton did not assume his role until May 2017, roughly four months after President Trump entered office.
We will continue to monitor for any developments on this front. This includes identifying potential effects on the blockchain and digital currency community as a result of new leadership at the SEC (and more broadly across the federal government).