SEC Chair Gary Gensler to exit on Jan. 20

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, known for his adversarial stances with Wall Street and crypto, said he’ll step down as the agency’s chai r on Jan. 20, 2025 at noon ET, coinciding with the day Donald Trump takes office. Trump, who embraced crypto since the 2020 election, has said he would fire Gensler. During his tenure, the SEC adopted changes to lower cost and risk in the Treasury markets.It adopted rules to promote central clearing and narrow circumstances in which broker-dealers are exempt from national securities association registration. “These reforms will lower risk and enhance efficiency throughout the entirety of the U.S. capital markets,” the SEC said. The regulator also updated the National Market System with an aim to trade stocks more efficiently with narrower spreads and lower fees. “Improvements also include shortening the settlement cycle to one day, which is good for investors and lowers risk in the market,” the SEC said. Wall Street and crypto companies have also criticized Gensler for being heavy-handed in regulation. For example, he said most crypto assets qualify as securities, leading the SEC to charge crypto exchanges like Binance and Coinbase ( COIN ) for operating as unregistered securities exchanges. But he also came under fire for not developing rules for the industry. Coinbase sued the SEC to try and force it to formulate rules for crypto trading. FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg, who has been under pressure over a toxic culture at the bank regulator, said he’ll leave on Jan. 19. Dear readers: We recognize that politics often intersects with the financial news of the day, so we invite you to click here to join the separate political discussion.

Source: Seeking Alpha