SEC Commissioner To Resign; Dan Gallagher Exits Race, Who Will Be The Next SEC Chair?
Following the news of Gary Gensler’s resignation from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on January 20 next year, another Democratic member of the US Securities and Exchange Commission is also about to leave the US SEC.
Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga withdraws
According to a recent ArchiveCommissioner Jaime Lizárraga will officially resign from the U.S. SEC on January 17, which could give Republicans a head start in recalibrating the regulator’s policies, including on cryptocurrency, that might otherwise be delayed. He cited his wife’s battle with breast cancer as the reason for his resignation and stressed the need to prioritize his family at this critical time.
Notably, at this point Carolyn Crenshaw will be the only Democrat on the five-member commission heading into 2025. Since her term has expired, her term could last about 18 months. The two remaining Republican members are Hester Pierce and Mark Ujeda.
Speculation surrounding who could become the next SEC chairman has intensified with news of Gary Gensler and Jaime Lizárraga’s exits. Some names being considered include Robert Stebbins, Paul Atkins; and Theresa Goode-Guillen.
Dan Gallagher withdraws from game
Notably, Robinhood’s CLO Dan Gallagher is leading the race to be the next SEC chairman. However, according to CBDC he recently stated that he did not expect to be considered for the position, although he added that it would be an honor to have his name “put out there.”
“I am committed to supporting Robinhood and its millions of customers who represent a new generation of retail investors,” Gallagher said, adding that he was excited to work with the incoming Trump administration and the next SEC chairman. , “to promote innovation and provide more opportunities for retail investors.”
It’s worth noting that Gallagher isn’t the only SEC contender to drop his name from his roster recently. Trump’s former CFTC chairman Chris Giancarlo, known as the crypto dad, also recently said on X that he’s not interested in cleaning up “Gary Gensler’s mess” again . “Rumors that I was interested in some cryptocurrency role at the U.S. Treasury Department are also false,” he added.
Mark Uyeda says there’s still a lot of work to do
Current SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda is also considered a strong candidate to succeed Gensler.
“One of the other very important things we can do is create safe harbors and regulatory sandboxes to allow innovation to happen. Finally,” he added, “we need to work with Congress, the White House and other federal regulators to ensure that we Take a consistent and comprehensive approach to cryptocurrencies,” he stated in a latest report. Report From Fox Business.
Oujeda noted that ultimately it is the president who decides who gets the lead. However, he pointed out –
“What I can tell you is whoever takes over this job is going to have a lot of work to do to address some of the over-regulation issues, not just at the FCC but at other administrative agencies as well. There are a lot of new rules being rolled out and regulations. This has many unintended consequences, many of which need to be addressed.”
