According to a memo from the White House Monday afternoon, President Donald Trump has tapped GOP Commissioner Mark Uyeda to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission as acting chair.
The appointment follows Trump’s official swearing-in ceremony on Monday morning.
Uyeda, who is currently serving his second of a five-year term at the SEC, will serve as the interim head of Wall Street’s top cop while Trump’s pick for permanent chair, Paul Atkins, waits to be confirmed by the Senate, a process that could take several months.
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FOX Business previously reported that Uyeda was likely to receive the acting chairmanship since his fellow GOP Commissioner Hester Peirce had privately expressed that she was not interested in the role, preferring instead to lead what will be the agency’s new approach to regulating the $3.5 trillion cryptocurrency industry, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Staff members for Uyeda and Peirce, as well as a press spokesperson for the SEC, did not respond to a request for comment.
Under Uyeda’s leadership, the SEC is poised to begin reversing policies established by Biden’s progressive chair, Gary Gensler, who officially resigned from the position on Monday.
Some of the changes Uyeda is set to oversee include pausing the enforcement of climate-related disclosure rules that require companies to report greenhouse gas emissions, as well as possibly limiting the scope of the consolidated audit trail (CAT), a large database designed to track all stock and options trades in the U.S. financial markets that critics say poses privacy and data security concerns.
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Perhaps most closely watched will be Uyeda’s approach to cryptocurrency regulation, and whether he will end the so-called ‘regulation by enforcement’ crackdown imposed by Gensler, who approved over 100 legal actions against the sector during his four-year tenure.
Uyeda and Peirce, referred to as “Crypto Mom” for her supportive stance toward the industry, have been outspoken critics of how the commission under Gensler has managed efforts to bring the digital assets industry into compliance.
“I think our policies and our approach over the last several years have been just really a disaster for the whole industry,” Uyeda said in an interview with FOX Business in November.
Uyeda also mentioned that he aims to assist President Trump in fulfilling his campaign promise to end what he referred to as the Biden Administration’s ‘war on crypto.’ This could involve, according to Uyeda, halting new agency enforcement actions against crypto firms that lack allegations of fraud or harm and have failed to register with the commission. Additionally, it could entail reviewing all cases currently in active litigation regarding the issue. Some of these ongoing cases include Coinbase, Kraken, and blockchain payments company Ripple, all of which the SEC has sued for failing to register sales of cryptocurrency tokens, despite unclear laws surrounding the classification of digital assets.
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Establishing regulatory clarity for digital assets is a top priority for the new SEC commission under the Trump administration.
Like Uyeda, Peirce has also spoken out publicly against the regulatory crackdown and has been a proponent of so-called “safe harbors,” which allow companies working with emerging technology like blockchain and AI the ability to operate under the observation of the agency but without the threat of enforcement actions.
Peirce is expected to take a leading role in re-evaluating the agency’s approach to crypto by creating and leading an internal “crypto task force” that will foster an open dialogue with industry players and initiate the process of providing more clarity for the digital assets sector through potential new rulemakings.
It’s unclear how quickly any planned policy changes at the SEC will take place. Uyeda and Peirce are currently the only GOP members on the commission, alongside Caroline Crenshaw, now the lone Democrat following the resignations of Gensler and fellow Democrat commissioner Jaime Lizárraga. In addition to Atkins, Trump will also appoint another GOP member to the commission and two other non-Republican commissioners.
In the meantime, many in the crypto world, as well as former and current politicians are praising Trump’s Uyeda pick.
“Mark Uyeda has the knowledge and integrity to make an excellent Chairman of the SEC,” said former Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey. “Mark is smart, fair, diligent, and has a deep respect for the rule of law.”
Meanwhile, the SEC’s sister agency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which is set to assume more responsibilities in regulating cryptocurrency, will be led by acting chair Caroline Pham, appointed to the position by Trump on Monday. He has not yet appointed a permanent chair. Pham is also a proponent of transparent policies regarding cryptocurrency and regulations that foster technical innovation.
“Caroline Pham has earned her place as Acting Chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission,” said former CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo. “She’s hardworking, open-minded and very forward-thinking, exactly the characteristics that distinguish the CFTC as a market regulator. I am confident that she will continue to enhance the agency’s global recognition for market intelligence and sophistication.”
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