Everything You Need to Know About Donald Trump's SEC Chair Pick

President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Jay Clayton for chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. In this role, Clayton will oversee Wall Street and ensure investors are protected from unfair practices. Clayton is a partner at the New York law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, and has worked with Wall Street and corporations to navigate federal regulations. This will be Clayton’s first position in government and his first as a prosecutor.

Here is everything you need to know about Clayton:

Education: Clayton has received a number of degrees including a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1988, a bachelor's in economics from the University of Cambridge in 1990, and a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1993.

What he does: According to his biography, Clayton is a partner with the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell. His expertise includes “public and private mergers and acquisitions transactions, capital markets offerings, regulatory and enforcement proceedings.” His biography also notes he advises a number of high-net-worth families on their public and private investing.

Some of his clients have included Barclays Capital during the acquisition of Lehman Brothers and Chinese retail giant Alibaba in helping it raise money through public offerings. He has also represented Goldman Sachs in major acquisitions and investments.

His relationship with Trump: Clayton met with Trump late last month to discuss U.S. regulatory policy.

“Jay Clayton is a highly talented expert on many aspects of financial and regulatory law, and he will ensure our financial institutions can thrive and create jobs while playing by the rules at the same time,” Trump said in a press release announcing Clayton’s nomination.

Both Trump and Clayton reiterated the lawyer's nomination will aid in pushing for deregulation of Wall Street and large corporations.

“If confirmed, we are going to work together with key stakeholders in the financial system to make sure we provide investors and our companies with the confidence to invest together in America,” Clayton said in the press release. “We will carefully monitor our financial sector, as we set policy that encourages American companies to do what they do best: create jobs.”

Policies he’s interested in: Clayton has written a number of articles on law, but he also has an interest in cybersecurity. In 2015, he argued in an article he co-authored with nine other people for The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania that the U.S. must take more serious steps to protect itself from a cybersecurity threat.

“Cyber risk is now a systemic threat to national security, economic sustainability, safety, public confidence, and to the freedoms that constitute our way of life,” reads the article.

Clayton and his co-authors also recommended implementing a “9-11-type Cyber Threat Commission” to provide more intel on potential cybersecurity threats.

What you might not know about him: In his position as a partner at a major law firm, Clayton worked with the Atlanta Hawks NBA franchise in both the purchase and later the sale of the franchise.

Apart from practicing law, Clayton is an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he has taught a class named “Through the Business Cycle.”

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