Trump Nominee Jay Clayton Will Be the Most Conflicted SEC Chair Ever
When Donald Trump picked hotshot Wall Street defense lawyer Jay Clayton to head the SEC Wednesday, there was a predictable outcry from certain quarters. Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who sits on the banking committee, had one of the most circulated quotes:
"It's hard to see," Brown said, "how an attorney who's spent his career helping Wall Street beat the rap will keep President-elect Trump's promise to stop big banks and hedge funds from 'getting away with murder.'"
Most of the consternation over Clayton's appointment has to do with his own background as a longtime defender of big banks. He's been involved in some infamously shadowy episodes in the post-crisis era, with two in particular standing out.
He represented Goldman Sachs when the firm received a $5 billion capital infusion from Warren Buffet during the September 2008 meltdown. He also represented Barclays during its malodorous acquisition of the assets of Lehman Brothers, an episode one lawyer described to me years ago as "the greatest bank robbery you never heard of." (There is a chapter about this story in my last book, The Divide.)
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/trump-pick-jay-clayton-to-be-most-conflicted-sec-chair-ever-w459289
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