chair mary jo white is stepping down from her post two years before her term is up. | getty by patrick temple-west 11/14/16 05:19 pm est updated 11/14/16 06:14 pm est securities and exchange commission chair mary jo white is stepping down from her post two years before her term is up, giving donald trump a chance to make his mark on the nation's stock market regulator. trump's choice will stand as an early test of his willingness to crack down on the wall street abuses that he railed against during the presidential campaign. story continued below trump got only a fraction of the wall street money that democrat hillary clinton received, making him less beholden to the financial industry, as he often boasted on the campaign trail. yet congressional republicans would oppose a more aggressive sec, and business groups have voiced optimism that under trump the agency would put less emphasis on regulation than on helping companies grow. in an interview the day before the nov. 8 presidential election, white did not give a specific date for her last day at the sec or say where she was headed for her next job. <u+201c>my plan is to step down around the end of the obama administration,<u+201d> white said. she had always planned for her departure to coincide with the president<u+2019>s, she said, a move previous sec chiefs have taken when a commander-in-chief leaves. white's tenure at the sec has been marked by withering accusations from sen. elizabeth warren and other progressives that she has been too deferential toward business, asked if she felt pressure to leave from warren, who just last month publicly demanded that president barack obama demote her, white, 68, simply said: <u+201c>not at all.<u+201d> by madeline conway as for warren, clinton's defeat will thwart her plans to significantly influence the selection of the next sec chair. in october, the massachusetts democrat tacitly endorsed sec commissioner kara stein for the chairmanship, without naming her. when warren wrote to obama calling on him to demote white, she said the president could immediately fill the post without a senate vote. stein is the only democrat on the commission. when obama nominated white as sec chair in january 2013, he said her experience as a federal prosecutor would translate into tough enforcement for the financial sector. as a former u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york, white won convictions for the terrorists who bombed the world trade center in 1993 and american embassies in africa in 1998. during her time at the sec, the agency has had three straight years of collecting a record $4 billion or more in enforcement fines from wrongdoers. white also pushed the sec to adopt a policy of forcing companies and individuals to admit misconduct when they settle enforcement cases with the agency. ''it has been a tremendous honor to work alongside the incredibly talented and dedicated sec staff,'' white said in a statement on monday. ''i am very proud of our three consecutive years of record enforcement actions." but by 2015, many democrats had soured on her for not advancing a rule to require companies to disclose their spending on political causes. that was a prime reason warren cited in calling for the sec chair<u+2019>s demotion. in a sign of how dramatically the political winds had changed for white, sen. chuck schumer (d-n.y.) told her at a hearing in june that <u+201c>you<u+2019>re hurting america<u+201d> for not advancing the political disclosure rule. in 2013, schumer had praised white, a new yorker, <u+201c>as one of most well-respected and hardest working lawyers in the country.<u+201d> by brent griffiths white<u+2019>s tenure underscores how politically challenging the role of sec chief has become. in an interview in september, rep. scott garrett (r-n.j.) characterized white<u+2019>s time at the sec as <u+201c>the good, bad and the ugly." garrett, who was defeated on nov. 8 in his bid for reelection, said he was peeved by the direction the agency is going with its review of how to update the disclosures that companies make public. though the sec<u+2019>s disclosure-effectiveness review started out as he<u+2019>d hoped, it has moved <u+201c>into the area of climate change [and] sustainability,<u+201d> garrett said. <u+201c>disclosure is supposed to go with what is material information,<u+201d> garrett said. that echoes a concern raised by the chamber of commerce, which does not want the sec to require companies to publish more information about their environmental, social and governance issues. in her letter to obama about white, warren blasted the sec disclosure-effectiveness review as gift to the chamber and its members. <u+201c>the sec and the rules that come out of it are not supposed to be politicized,<u+201d> garrett said. <u+201c>it is not supposed to be moving any sort of administration agenda, social agenda, or otherwise.<u+201d> but garrett applauded white for stopping the sec<u+2019>s work on the political spending disclosure rule. <u+201c>that<u+2019>s something early on that we talked about,<u+201d> he said. sec records show garrett was the first member of congress white talked to shortly after she started at the agency in april 2013. white met with warren in june 2013. by yousef saba sen. sherrod brown (d-ohio) reiterated democrats<u+2019> concerns with white<u+2019>s reluctance to advance the political spending disclosure rule. <u+201c>we are all flummoxed and confused about why she does not want to move on it,<u+201d> brown told politico before white announced her resignation. brown also said the sec has been too willing to grant companies waivers from penalties that they would otherwise suffer when they settle with the agency for alleged misconduct. he cited the wells fargo scandal as evidence that financial firms don<u+2019>t feel threatened by regulators. <u+201c>there seems to be a disincentive for them to behave,<u+201d> brown said. <u+201c>i put part of the blame for that on the sec.<u+201d> but in a sign that white drove a nonpartisan course during her tenure, brown and garrett both commended and criticized her work at the sec. brown complimented white for her work in promoting market stability as a member of the treasury-led financial stability oversight council, the uber-regulator created out of dodd-frank, and for her leadership in finalizing regulations for money-market funds in 2014. both lawmakers said they had a good relationship with white and that she was receptive to congressional concerns. <u+201c>her personality is fine except she is a yankees fan,<u+201d> brown joked. by michael grunwald by bill scher by thomas wright by joshua zeitz
sec chair mary jo white stepping down - politico
patrick temple-west madeline conway brent griffiths michael grunwald