SEC Commissioner Robert Jackson to Depart

News January 16, 2020 at 10:21 AM
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SEC Commissioner Robert Jackson speaking at the IAA conference in Washington. SEC Commissioner Robert Jackson speaking at the IAA conference in Washington. (Photo: Herb Perone/IAA)

SEC Commissioner Robert Jackson, a Democrat, said Thursday that he will depart from the agency on Feb. 14 and return to teaching at New York University School of Law, where he's currently on faculty leave.

"Serving on the Commission has been the privilege of my lifetime," Jackson said in his statement. "I will always be proud to have served alongside my fellow commissioners, Chairman [Jay] Clayton, and especially the commission's staff, who dedicate their careers to protecting ordinary investors — and give hardworking American families the chance to build a better future."

The White House is expected to nominate Caroline Crenshaw, an attorney at the SEC, to fill Jackson's seat this year, according to Reuters. Crenshaw currently works as an attorney in Jackson's office. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has sent Crenshaw's name to the White House as a nominee for the post, Reuters reported.

The White House has yet to formally announce Crenshaw's nomination.

Jackson's term expired in 2019, but commissioners can stay on up to 18 months after their term expires or they are replaced. The term of Commissioner Hester Peirce, a Republican, expires in 2020. The commission has two seats for Democrats and two for Republicans, plus the chairman.

Dennis Kelleher, CEO of Better Markets, said in a Thursday statement that Jackson "has been a steadfast and effective ally in the fight for investor protection, fair markets and sustainable capital formation. His clear and strong voice pushing the SEC to live up to its mission of putting investors first will be missed and we urge the president and Senate to move swiftly to nominate and confirm his replacement."

Jackson, who voted against the agency's Regulation Best Interest and the advice-standards package, gave an unequivocal "no" in early December on whether he thought the agency would "take steps to clarify the things that were not clear" in Reg BI.

"There are going to be enforcement decisions that will have to be made," Jackson said at the Consumer Federation of America's financial services conference in Washington. "There's going to have to be guidance that will be given to broker-dealers engaged in certain types of activity."

In regards to whether FAQs on Reg BI compliance would suffice, Jackson stated: "How many of them will there be? Will there be enough? How much guidance will be provided? How aggressive will enforcement be? The bottom line is: How good a job Reg BI is going to be in protecting ordinary people is going to be decided by on-the-ground regulatory decisions in the future. And who's making those decisions is going to be very important."

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