President Trump appointed Mark Uyeda acting SEC chairman

As a Note From the White House Monday afternoon, President Donald Trump tapped GOP Commissioner Mark Yuda to serve as acting chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The appointment follows Trump’s inauguration on Monday morning.

Uyeda, who is currently serving his second five-year term at the SEC, will serve as interim chief of Wall Street’s top police while awaiting Senate confirmation of Paul Atkins, Trump’s choice for permanent chairman. It may take several months.

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Fox Business previously reported that Uyeda may accept the presidency, saying that GOP Commissioner Hester Pearce is not interested in the role of leading what will be the agency’s new approach to privately overseeing the $3.5 trillion kriptovalyutnyh industry. , according to sources familiar with the matter.

Members of Uyeda and Peirce, as well as the SEC’s press spokesperson, did not respond to requests for comment.

Under Uyeda’s leadership, the SEC is poised to begin reversing policies established by Biden’s progressive chairman, Gary Gensler, who officially stepped down on Monday.

Among the changes Uyeda plans to oversee are ending climate-related disclosure rules that require companies to report greenhouse gas emissions, as well as limiting the scope of the Comprehensive Audit Trail (CAT), a large database designed to track emissions. All stocks and options are traded on US financial markets, and critics say they raise privacy and data security concerns.

Trump appointed Paul Atkins to head the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Perhaps the most closely monitored will be Uyeda’s approach to cryptocurrency regulation, and whether Gensler, who has approved more than 100 legal measures in the sector during his four-year tenure, will end the so-called ‘regulation by enforcement’.

Known as the “Crypto Mom” ​​for her support of the industry, Uyeda and Pearce have been outspoken in their criticism of how the commission under Gensler has engaged in efforts to bring the digital assets industry into compliance.

“I think our policies and our approach over the last several years have just been a disaster for the entire industry,” Uyeda said in an interview with FOX Business in November.

Uyeda noted that the Biden administration aims to help President Trump fulfill his campaign promises to end what he described as a ‘war on crypto’. This may include a new agency to stop enforcement actions against crypto companies that are not fraudulent or harmful and fail to register with the commission, Uyeda. Additionally, it may require review of all cases currently in active litigation regarding the subject matter. Some of these ongoing cases include Coinbase, Kraken, and blockchain payments company Ripple, all of which the SEC has accused of failing to register the sale of cryptocurrency tokens despite unclear rules regarding the classification of digital assets.

The crypto industry celebrated Trump’s appointment of David Sachs as the AI, crypto czar to lead industry innovation.

Establishing regulatory transparency for digital assets is a priority for the new SEC commission under the Trump administration.

Like Ueda, Pearce has publicly spoken out against the regulatory move and has been a supporter of so-called “safe harbors,” which allow companies that work with new technologies like blockchain and AI to operate under the agency’s oversight, but without the threat of enforcement action.

Pierce is expected to take the lead in reevaluating the agency’s crypto practices by creating and leading an internal “crypto task force” that will foster open dialogue with industry players and promote greater transparency in the digital assets sector. With possible new laws.

It is unclear how quickly any proposed policy changes by the SEC will be implemented. Uyeda and Pearce are currently the only GOP members on the commission, along with Caroline Crenshaw, now the only Democrat, following the resignation of Gensler and Democrat Commissioner Jaime Lizaraga. In addition to Atkins, Trump will appoint another GOP member to the commission 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 Uyeda has the knowledge and integrity to make an excellent SEC chairman,” said former Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey. “Mark is smart, fair, hard-working 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 additional responsibilities in regulating cryptocurrency, will be led by Acting Chair Carolyn Pham, who was appointed to the position by Trump on Monday. He has not yet appointed a permanent chair. Pham is a proponent of transparent policies regarding encryption and regulations that encourage technical innovation.

“Carolyn Pham has earned her position as acting chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission,” said Chris Giancarlo, former chairman of the CFTC. “She is hard-working, open-minded and very forward-thinking, precisely the qualities that distinguish the CFTC as a market regulator. I am confident that she will continue to enhance the agency’s global reputation for market intelligence and prudence.”