SEC Chairman Jay Clayton announced Monday that he will be leaving at the end of the year.
Mr. Clayton's tenure began May 2017, making him one of the Securities and Exchange Commission's longest serving chairmen. His tenure also marked what the agency said was "a historically productive rule-making period" with more than 65 rules finalized, including ones for regulations that had not been updated in decades.
A central theme of Mr. Clayton's tenure was protecting Main Street investors and providing more investment opportunities for them through public and private offerings.
According to the SEC's list of accomplishments during his tenure, Mr. Clayton also presided over stronger examination and enforcement programs that set several annual records, including $14 billion in monetary remedies and $3.5 billion returned to harmed investors.
Mr. Clayton's successor will be named by the incoming Biden administration, which will give Democrats on the commission a 3-2 majority.
Veterans of the 2008 financial crisis could be heading back to Washington, too.
The Biden transition team for financial regulatory agencies including the SEC is chaired by Gary Gensler, the former Goldman Sachs partner and Commodity Futures Trading Commission chairman during the Obama administration.
