Kemi Osukoya
January 4, 2020
Securities and Exchange Commission‘s lead Policymaker Elad L. Roisman has assumed a new role as Acting Chairman of the agency, effectively immediately. He was elevated to his new post by President Trump on Dec. 28, after former Chief Jay Clayton departed and ended his tenure at the agency earlier than expected.
The acting Chairman, who worked closely alongside his predecessor said he plans to keep a “steady course” by continuing working on the agenda that Clayton set for the agency.
”During the time I am in this role, I am fully committed to maintaining the steady course that Chairman Clayton charted during his admirable tenure. I look forward to of continuing to work with the incredible SEC staff and my fellow Commissioners as we steward this agency into the new year,” Roisman said.
Roisman was tasked as head of the policymaker team by Clayton to modernize the proxy voting process and strengthen the agency’s disclosure framework for public companies that enables more companies to go public earlier and therefore allow retail investors to share in their growth.
His fellow Commissioners: Hester M. Peirce, Allison Herren Lee and Caroline A. Crenshaw “heartily congratulate” the Acting Chairman on his new job and said they “look forward to continuing our work together to further the agency’s vital mission.”
Roisman began working at the agency in September 2018 as a Commissioner. He was tasked as head of the policymaker by Clayton to modernize the proxy voting process and strengthen the agency’s disclosure framework for public companies to enables more companies to go public earlier and therefore allow retail investors to share in their growth.
He successfully led the agency’s efforts to simplify the shareholder proposal rules to help promote better engagement among shareholder-proponents, companies and other shareholders, including preserving the ability of smaller shareholders to access the proxy statements of the companies in which they have demonstrated a continuing interest.
The rules, under section 14a-8 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, amend the initial submission criteria and resubmission thresholds that must be met in order for a shareholder proposal to be included in a company’s proxy statement.
Roisman also piloted the agency’s schemes in streamlining the federal proxy solicitation rules so that investors who use proxy voting advice can get more transparent, accurate, and complete information to make their voting decisions, without incurring undue costs or delays that could adversely affect the timely provision of proxy voting advice.
In addition, he led the Commission in publishing guidance to investment advisers under the Investment Advisers Act on how to fulfill their fiduciary duty to clients in the context of proxy voting, how to use professional proxy voting advice services, such as recommendations and automated voting features as well as provided an interpretation and related guidance regarding the applicability of the federal proxy rules to proxy voting advice.
Roisman works in coordination with other federal regulators charged with the agency’s oversight, including the Treasury. He urged the SEC to consider regulatory enhancements that could improve the Treasury market’s transparency, integrity, and resiliency in light of significant evolutions in Treasury market structure.
Before joining the SEC, Roisman worked as Chief Counsel on the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, advising on issues such as securities, financial regulation, and international financial matters. He helped draft and negotiated several pieces of legislation that became law, including the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act.
Clayton ended his tenure as Chairman of the SEC on Dec. 18, after serving at the post for three years. He announced on November 16 that he was leaving the agency at the end of the year.
