• Trump likely to appoint a Republican SEC commissioner as acting head
• SEC’s crypto crackdown led to criticism, legal battles
• Gensler’s tenure marked by ambitious reforms, legal challenges

WASHINGTON – U.S. stocks and bonds and swap fee Chair Gary Gensler will step down on Jan. 20 when President-elect Donald Trump’s administration takes over, the agency said on Thursday, ending an ambitious tenure that saw him clash with Wall Street and the crypto industry.

“I thank President Biden for entrusting me with this incredible responsibility. The SEC has met our mission and enforced the law without terror or favor,” Gensler, who was nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden in 2021, said in a statement.

Known for his challenging-charging style, Gensler led an ambitious agenda to boost transparency, reduce systemic risks, and stamp out conflicts of profit on Wall Street, completing dozens of recent rules, some of which have been challenged in court.

Among his major accomplishments were changes to boost the resilience and efficiency of U.S. markets, including speeding up trade settlements and overhauling the $28 trillion Treasuries trade, as well as a number of rules boosting investor disclosures and corporate governance.

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The Baltimore native also successfully implemented rules mandated by Congress imposing SEC oversight on auditors of U.S.-listed Chinese companies, ending a decade-long tussle with Beijing that lawmakers said had put U.S. investors at uncertainty.

On the enforcement front, Gensler’s SEC broke recent ground with a multi-year attempt concentrated on Wall Street’s use of text, WhatsApp and other unauthorized channels to discuss business, levying more than $2 billion in fines against dozens of firms, including JP Morgan JPM.N and Goldman Sachs.

He also took on the crypto industry, suing Coinbase, Kraken, Binance and others, alleging that their setback to register with the agency violated SEC rules, accusations the companies deny and are fighting in court. When it comes to crypto, the courts have mostly backed Gensler’s positions.

But his sweeping agenda and uncompromising posture sparked intense pushback from Wall Street, as well as congressional Republicans, and even some Democrats.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Managed Funds Association and other groups sued in the conservative-leaning Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and elsewhere to overturn at least eight rules, arguing they were unjustified, harmful or beyond the SEC’s authority.

Jill Fisch, a University of Pennsylvania law professor specializing in stocks and bonds regulation, said Gensler would depart with a mixed legacy.

“I ponder there are clearly some victories, but I would declare he came in with a fairly aggressive rule-making agenda and most of that either hasn’t or isn’t likely to endure.”

Trump shift

In a major blow to the agency, the Fifth Circuit ruled in June that the SEC did not have the authority to oversee the $27 trillion private funds industry. That setback, and other legal challenges, have slowed the agency’s rule-making this year, and could impede the agency in the long run, Reuters reported.

Just before Gensler’s announcement on Thursday, a federal judge in Texas struck down the SEC’s overhaul of Treasury dealer rules adopted earlier this year.

Some critics also declare Gensler’s crypto crusade was ill-conceived and damaged the U.S. economy by stifling recent concept and pushing crypto companies offshore, criticism he has rejected. In a talk this month, he argued history has shown that “robust stocks and bonds regulation both creates depend in markets and fosters recent concept.”

Trump has not said who would replace Gensler, although he is widely expected to appoint one of the current Republican SEC commissioners, Hester Peirce or Mark Uyeda, as acting head of the agency.

Reuters previously reported that Trump’s shift throng is considering former SEC officials for the job permanently.

Gensler’s successor is expected to immediately complete the crypto crackdown, review many of Gensler’s rules, pull enforcement actions wending their way through the courts, and pursue rule changes focusing on promoting financing formation.

Writing by Michelle worth; Additional reporting by Chris Prentice in recent York; Editing by Paul Simao