Biden Nominates 2 New SEC Commissioners
The nominees would replace former Commissioner Elad Roisman and departing Commissioner Allison Herren Lee.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday nominated Jaime Lizárraga, senior advisor to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Mark Uyeda, a securities counsel, to serve as commissioners at the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Lizárraga oversees issues relating to financial markets, housing, international financial institutions, immigration and small-business policy. He also serves as Pelosi’s liaison to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Biden said in his announcement.
Uyeda, a securities counsel on the minority staff of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, has over 25 years of experience in corporate and securities law, including 18 years of public service working in federal and state government, according to Biden’s announcement. He has also served as assistant director and senior special counsel in the SEC’s Division of Investment Management.
Uyeda joined the SEC in 2006 and has worked in various capacities, including as senior advisor to former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton and former acting chairman Michael Piwowar, and as counsel to former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins.
If confirmed, Uyeda would replace former SEC Commissioner Elad Roisman, a Republican, who left the agency at the end of January.
Lizárraga, if confirmed, would replace Allison Herren Lee, a Democrat, whose term expires in June.
Throughout his 31-year public service career, Lizárraga has advised congressional leaders and heads of executive agencies on policy and legislative strategy. He previously served on the Democratic staff of the House Financial Services Committee, and as a presidential appointee at the Treasury Department and the SEC.
From 2004 to 2006, Uyeda was chief advisor to the California Corporations Commissioner, the state’s securities regulator. Before entering public service, Uyeda was an attorney in private practice with O’Melveny & Myers LLP in Los Angeles, and Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP in Washington.
Lizárraga graduated from the University of California, San Diego, with high honors, and earned a master’s degree from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas.
Pictured: Jaime Lizárraga (left) and Mark Uyeda