Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins tapped a key player for his leadership team Wednesday, appointing a corporate attorney to head the unit tasked with reviewing initial public offerings and scrutinizing company disclosures.
James Moloney, a partner at the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, will head the SEC’s division of corporation finance starting next month, the SEC said. He had worked at the SEC from 1994 to 2000 on mergers and acquisitions and in the division of corporation finance.
The division combs through corporate financial reports to ensure businesses report risks to investors. The staff also issues guidance on how to comply with SEC rules, such as disclosing executive pay or reporting earnings metrics that don’t comport with official accounting standards. In recent months, the staff has issued a spate of crypto guidance, saying assets such as memecoins and stablecoins generally aren’t considered securities.
“There is much to be done, and I am looking forward to rejoining my colleagues in the Division of Corporation Finance in tailoring smart, practical, and effective regulations that will allow companies to thrive and investors to benefit,” Moloney said in a statement.
The division also advises the SEC on writing new rules and would play a key role in shaping broader cryptocurrency policy if a market structure bill is passed by Congress. Under the Clarity Act, the bulk of crypto market oversight would sit with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, but the SEC would have to work with the derivatives regulator to issue joint rules for the market.
Cicely LaMothe, the acting head of the division, will return to her role as deputy director, the SEC said.
