SEC Chair Nominee Clayton's Ethics Report Reveals Range of Possible Conflicts

By Dave Michaels 

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earned more than $7.6 million over the past year as one of Wall Street's top lawyers, handling stock offerings and corporate mergers and acquisitions, according to disclosures released Wednesday.

Jay Clayton, a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP whose Senate confirmation hearing is scheduled for March 23, also has investments in a long list of private-equity funds managed by firms such as Warburg Pincus LLC, Bain Capital, and J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC. His law firm's clients have included Ally Financial Inc., Barclays PLC, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and Deutsche Bank AG, the financial disclosure report said.

The holdings show that Mr. Clayton will likely face sharp questions from Senate Democrats about potential conflicts of interest. Under SEC ethics rules, Mr. Clayton will probably have to recuse himself from any specific agency business that pertains to companies he has represented or investments he has owned.

Mr. Clayton's wife, Gretchen Butler Clayton, is a financial adviser at Goldman Sachs. The form doesn't reveal her income, but says she owns between $100,001 and $250,000 in restricted stock that was likely part of her past compensation. Ms. Clayton plans to resign from the firm if her husband is confirmed by the Senate, a person familiar with the matter has said.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 08, 2017 11:14 ET (16:14 GMT)

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