On Thursday, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler announced on X that he would step down from his position on January 20, the date of President-elect Trump’s inauguration, marking the end of a turbulent tenure for the top regulator.
Since entering office in April 2021, Gensler has battled with industry groups across Wall Street, pursuing an aggressive campaign of rulemaking and enforcement actions that often put him at odds with the companies his agency was overseeing.
Gensler was appointed by President Joe Biden. It is customary for agency heads to step down after the election of a president from the other party.
A former Goldman Sachs banker, Gensler reinvented himself as a progressive reformer after the 2008 financial crisis, helping enact the landmark Dodd-Frank legislation. As SEC chair, Gensler sought out an unusually public role for an agency head, making frequent TV appearances and feuding with the crypto industry.
“The SEC is a remarkable agency,” he posted on X, alongside a press release. “It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve with them on behalf of everyday Americans and ensure that our capital markets remain the best in the world.”
SEC lightning rod
Established in the early 1930s, the SEC is tasked with regulating securities markets, such as stocks and bonds, as well as protecting investors. It has typically been a highly technical agency that stays out of the limelight, instead working with investment firms and banks to prevent fraud and oversee paperwork like public offerings.
That changed under Gensler, who had established himself as a prominent figure in the Democratic party through his previous roles as chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and chief financial officer for Hilary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. He also worked to shed his reputation as a Goldman financier, winning over progressives like Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren through his work on the Dodd-Frank financial reform.
As SEC chair, Gensler helped enact progressive priorities, including controversial proposals obliging financial firms to make climate disclosures—measures that were watered down after intense industry pushback. The agency has also faced extensive litigation from different sectors, including the crypto industry, hedge funds, and private equity firms, over its approach to rulemaking.
Gensler has also faced pushback from SEC commissioners including Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda, who have criticized his lack of engagement with industry groups and crackdown on novel sectors like decentralized finance and non-fungible tokens. Former staffers complained of his aggressive approach, with many leaving for the private sector. Attrition rose in the first year after he took office, although it declined the following.
Gensler’s most visible work, though, has been his public feud with the crypto industry. While his predecessor, Chair Jay Clayton, started a trend of suing major blockchain firms with his lawsuit against Ripple, Gensler ramped up the campaign following the November 2022 collapse of FTX. The next year, Gensler’s SEC sued two of the largest crypto firms, Coinbase and Binance, while Gensler frequently railed against the industry’s noncompliance and pervasive fraud.
“You see company after company, entrepreneur after entrepreneur, misleading the public, going bankrupt,” he told Fortune in an interview last November.
The agency’s approach is likely to change under Trump, who became an ardent advocate for the crypto industry during his 2024 campaign. While Trump hasn’t yet named his nominee for SEC chair, rumored candidates include Robinhood chief legal officer Dan Gallager and former SEC commissioner Paul Atkins. At an event on Tuesday, current SEC commissioner and Republican Mark Uyeda waved off speculation that he would be tapped.
