By Bill Flook
SEC Chairman Jay Clayton is scheduled to testify remotely on November 17, 2020, before the Senate Banking Committee.
The SEC chief’s upcoming testimony before the banking panel could be one of his last Hill appearances – albeit a virtual one – with a potential presidential administration change looming, depending on the outcome of the November 3 elections. SEC chairs typically serve only a single term; Arthur Levitt, a Clinton appointee, was the last SEC chairman to be reappointed to the post for a second term.
Clayton will testify before the Banking Committee as part of the committee’s oversight of financial regulators. It will come a week after the committee hears testimony from the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and National Credit Union Administration.
Clayton last testified before a congressional panel in late June, when Democrats on a House Financial Services subcommittee bombarded him with questions related to the Donald Trump administration’s plan to nominate him as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, replacing the ousted Geoffrey Berman.
Clayton at the time largely refused to offer details on his specific plans but said he is “fully committed to and focused on my role at the SEC.”
At several times during the hearing he appeared uncomfortable, and occasionally irritated, with the aggressiveness of Democrats’ questioning.
Trump’s plan this summer to nominate Clayton to replace the fired Berman, who had pursued investigations into several of the president’s associates, had placed Clayton in an unfamiliar and unwelcome public spotlight, although that furor has largely died down as the nomination failed to gain any momentum.
This article originally appeared in the October 27, 2020 edition of Accounting & Compliance Alert, available on Checkpoint.
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