President Trump appoints Mark Uyeda acting SEC chair
SEC Commissioner Mark Ueda details the three main steps President-elect Trump will take to end the “war on crypto.”
According to A memorandum As of Monday afternoon, White House President Donald Trump appointed Republican Commissioner Mark Uyeda to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission as acting chairman.
The appointment follows Trump’s official swearing-in ceremony on Monday morning.
Uyeda, who is currently serving his second five-year term at the SEC, will serve as Wall Street’s top cop while Trump’s permanent chairman pick, Paul Atkins, awaits Senate confirmation, a process that could take several months.
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FOX Business: previously reported Uyeda is likely to get the acting chairmanship because fellow GOP Commissioner Hester Pearce has privately said she is not interested in the role, preferring instead to lead the agency’s new approach to regulating the $3.5 trillion cryptocurrency industry, sources said. : familiar with the case.
Mark Toshiro Ueda, the nominee for Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Mark Toshiro Ueda, speaks during a confirmation hearing for the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee in Washington on May 19, 2022. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Members of Uyeda’s and Peirce’s staff, as well as an SEC spokeswoman, did not respond to requests for comment.
Under Uyeda’s leadership, the SEC is set to begin reversing policies established by Biden’s progressive chairman, Gary Gensler, who formally resigned on Monday.
Some of the changes to be overseen by Uyeda include ending 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 is to track all stock and options trading in US financial markets, which critics say raises 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 so-called “regulation by enforcement” imposed by Gensler, who has approved more than 100 legal actions against the industry during his four-year tenure.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler testifies during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs oversight hearing at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 12. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Dubbed the “Crypto Mother” for her supportive stance toward the industry, Uyeda and Pierce have been outspoken critics of how the commission under Gensler has handled efforts to bring the digital asset industry into compliance.
“I think our policy and our approach over the last few years has been an absolute disaster for the entire industry,” Uyeda said in an interview with FOX Business in November.
Uyeda also indicated that he aims to support President Trump in fulfilling his campaign promise to end what he called the Biden administration’s “war on crypto.” That could include, according to Uyeda, ending new agency enforcement actions against crypto firms , which have no allegations of fraud or damage and have failed to register with the commission. In addition, this may involve reviewing all cases that are currently in active litigation Some of these ongoing cases include Coinbase, Kraken, and blockchain payments company Ripple, all of which have been sued by the SEC for failing to register cryptocurrency token sales despite unclear digital asset classification laws.
Establishing regulatory clarity for digital assets is a priority for the new SEC commission under the Trump administration.
Like Uyeda, Pierce has publicly spoken out against regulatory pressure and has been a proponent of so-called “safe harbors,” which allow companies that work with emerging technologies like blockchain and AI to operate under agency oversight, but without: the threat of coercive action.
Hester Pierce, commissioner of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, at the Permissionless II event on September 11, 2023 in Austin, Texas. (Thomas Ellison/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Pearce is expected to take a leading role in reassessing the agency’s approach to crypto, creating and leading an internal “crypto task force” that will foster open dialogue with industry players and begin the process of bringing greater clarity to the digital asset sector through potential new regulations.
It’s unclear how quickly the planned policy changes will happen at the SEC. Ueda and Pierce are currently the only GOP members on the commission, along with Caroline Crenshaw, after the resignations of Gensler and fellow Democrat Commissioner Jaime Lizaraga will also appoint one more Republican member and two other non-Republican commissioners.
Meanwhile, many in the crypto world, as well as former and current politicians, are praising Trump’s choice of Uyeda.
“Mark Ueda has the knowledge and integrity to be an excellent SEC chairman,” said former Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey. “Mark is smart, fair, diligent and has a deep respect for the rule of law.”
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Meanwhile, the SEC’s sister agency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which is set to take on more responsibility for cryptocurrency regulation, will be led by Acting Chairwoman Caroline Pham, who was appointed by Trump on Monday. She has yet to appoint a permanent chair. Pham also advocates transparent policies on cryptocurrency and regulations to promote technical innovation.
“Caroline Pham has earned her place as acting chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission,” said former CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo. : I am confident that he will continue to enhance the agency’s global reputation for market intelligence and sophistication.”
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