Trump taps Republican Mark Uyeda as acting SEC chairman, White House says

Newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump has tapped Mark Uyeda, a Republican member of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, to be acting chairman of the agency, the White House said on Monday.

Uyeda takes over from Gary Gensler, former president Joe Biden’s hard-charging SEC chairman whose ambitious agenda led him to clash with Wall Street and the cryptocurrency industry. Trump has said he will nominate former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins to run the agency on a permanent basis.

Atkins, for whom both Uyeda and current SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce both previously worked at the agency, is expected to make a sharp turn away from how the Biden administration oversaw capital markets. Gensler, who stepped down on Monday, wrote dozens of rules aimed at boosting transparency, reducing risks, and stamping out conflicts of interest on Wall Street. He also sued multiple cryptocurrency firms he alleged were flouting SEC rules.

Sources said this month that Peirce and Uyeda are expected to kick-start a cryptocurrency policy overhaul as early as this week, Reuters reported. Uyeda’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A Republican SEC commissioner since June 2022, Uyeda has criticised Gensler’s approach to rule making and enforcement.