Resignation may herald significant change at SEC after years of partisan strife
SEC commissioner Daniel Gallagher, an outspoken critic of Dodd-Frank, is to resign, heralding a transformation at the regulator, according to Bloomberg.
Gallagher, the 42-year-old Republican commissioner who has publicly battled over issues such as the power of proxy advisory firms, corporate rights, shareholder activism and the power of the SEC itself, will leave as soon as a replacement for him is found, Bloomberg news reports, citing three unidentified people familiar with the matter.
His departure roughly coincides with the end of the term of Democrat commissioner Luis Aguilar next month. The administration of President Barack Obama already has candidates in mind to replace both commissioners, the news agency reports.
Gallagher, who has served on the commission for four years, has been a lightning rod for conservative-liberal disputes. Most recently, he lashed out at the Federal Reserve for what he said was an overstepping of its boundaries into territory regulated by the SEC after a Fed official said he would like to see greater regulation of hedge funds.
In a high-profile dispute earlier this year, Gallagher helped block Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz from participating in an SEC panel on high-frequency trading (HFT) after the economist proposed an HFT tax. Gallagher also called for measures to curb shareholder activism last year, including minimum periods in which a shareholder must own a company’s stock and an increase to as much as $2 mn of the minimum shareholding required to make a proposal.
Aguilar, a commissioner who has often clashed with Gallagher and whose term expires on June 5, told Reuters in an interview that he does not plan to seek a second term but he has ‘no current plans to leave.’ Having served for seven years, he can continue to serve after his term expires while a replacement is sought.
