On May 2, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Jay Clayton to serve as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The nomination was approved in a 61 to 37 vote, with several Democrats joining their Republican colleagues in supporting the nomination. He was sworn into office on May 4.
Clayton, formerly a partner at the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, brings to the agency years of experience advising financial corporate executives on how to raise capital and engage in mergers, acquisitions and spin-offs.
During the Senate hearing on his nomination, Clayton stressed that as SEC chairman he will focus on encouraging more companies to raise capital in the stock markets. He noted that the number of initial public offerings has declined in recent years, and said he will seek to reduce the burdens of becoming a public company. Regarding enforcement, he said regulators could achieve more by suing individuals rather than pressuring companies to pay large fines.
While in private practice, Clayton advised a long list of public and private companies on a wide range of matters, including securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and regulatory and enforcement proceedings. During the financial crisis, he advised Bear Stearns on its sale to J.P. Morgan, Barclays in its purchase of the core U.S. business of Lehman Brothers shortly after that firm’s bankruptcy, and Goldman Sachs in its negotiations with Warren Buffett on a $5 billion infusion of capital.
In 2014, he advised Alibaba, the Chinese ecommerce company, on its initial public offering. That offering raised $25 billion, making it the largest IPO in U.S. history. He also has experience with commodity trading firms. In 2012 he advised a group of investors that formed Castleton Commodities through the purchase of the energy trading joint venture backed by Louis Dreyfus and Highbridge Capital. Three years later he advised Castleton on its acquisition of Morgan Stanley’s oil merchant business.
