President Donald Trump may soon officially move to fill the two open commissioner spots at the SEC. Trump's choice for one of those spots was also chosen by President Barack Obama, and she's already weighed in on big industry issues like broker-dealer consolidation and the DoL rule.

Hester Peirce Mercatus Center Senior Research Fellow and Financial Markets Working Group Director

Hester Peirce, senior research fellow and financial markets working group director at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, is Trump's "likely choice" to the fill the SEC's empty Republican commissioner spot, unnamed sources tell Bloomberg, echoing predictions from shortly after Trump won in November. Peirce was originally nominated for the same spot by Obama, back in October 2015.

Reuters also reported on the news.

As for the open Democratic commissioner seat at the SEC, Bloomberg's unnamed sources point to Columbia law professor Robert Jackson and senatorial aide Bharat Rammamurti (who works with outspoken populist Senator Elizabeth Warren[D-Massachusetts]) as Democratic "candidates that have been discussed" without identifying either as a frontrunner. Reuters adds that "Trump is not expected to tap" Lisa Fairfax, Obama's choice for that spot.

Peirce is no stranger to the SEC. She currently sits on its investor advisory committee, and she worked at the SEC for eight years last decade, four as a staff attorney in the investment management division (i.e. the part that regulates the mutual fund business) and then four years as counsel to then-commissioner Paul Atkins (who last year was rumored to "recommending policies on financial regulation" as part of Trump's transition team).

Since Trump took office five months ago, Peirce has continued to weigh in publicly on issues of import to fundsters and their allies. Like new SEC chairman Jay Clayton, Peirce publicly argues for the SEC to take the lead on fiduciary issues, pushing back against the controversial and kinda-sorta-implemented Department of Labor fiduciary regulation. And she worries about the declining numbers of broker-dealers in business and wonders if the fiduciary reg and the continuing rise of ETFs and index funds are both partly to blame.

Peirce is an alumna of Case Western Reserve and of Yale Law. Before joining the SEC, she worked at the law firm now called WilmerHale and clerked for U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge Roger Andewelt. And like current SEC commissioner Michael Piwowar, Peirce has worked for Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama), then chair of the Senate Banking Committee and now chair of the Senate Rules Committee. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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