Senate Banking Committee approves SEC nominee Elad Roisman

The Senate Banking Committee on Thursday approved Elad Roisman for a seat on the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Mr. Roisman’s nomination now heads to the Senate floor for a vote by the full chamber. He is poised to fill the SEC seat vacated by former Republican commissioner Michael Piwowar, who left the agency in July.

It’s not clear when the Senate vote will occur. In recent years, the Senate has confirmed Republican and Democratic SEC nominees as a package. There will be another SEC vacancy in December, when Democratic member Kara Stein must leave. Her term expired in June 2017, but she can serve through the end of the current session of Congress.

The Trump administration has not yet nominated a replacement for Ms. Stein.

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said that a vote on Mr. Roisman has not yet been scheduled.

The chamber will soon vote on 17 other nominations. Mr. McConnell has kept the Senate in the capital for much of August, canceling the normal summer recess, to cast appropriations and confirmation votes.

The Senate may be inclined to vote on Mr. Roisman alone because the confirmation process for Ms. Stein’s successor has not yet started, said Scott Kimpel, a partner at Hunton Andrews Kurth.

“In an election year, particularly when the balance of the Senate is up for grabs, political expediency takes precedence over other matters,” said Mr. Kimpel, who was a counsel to former SEC commissioner Troy Paredes. “There could be a push to get as many nominations as possible approved over the next several months.”

The changing makeup of the five-member SEC comes at a crucial time for the agency’s investment advice reform proposal. The comment period on the package ended Aug. 7.

The SEC will review thousands of comment letters and other input and could modify the proposal. It was put out for comment on a 4-1 vote in April, but only SEC Chairman Jay Clayton expressing whole-hearted support for the package.

In his July 24 confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, Mr. Roisman was cautious about the advice reform proposal. He stressed that disclosure and helping clients understand their relationship with their financial adviser are important but did not indicate whether he supported the package.

“Clayton’s going to need allies,” Mr. Kimpel said. “[Mr. Roisman] has been guarded in his comments given that this is a live, open rulemaking.”

Mr. Roisman currently serves as the chief counsel on the Senate Banking Committee. Previously, he was a counsel for former SEC commissioner Daniel Gallagher.

“Mr. Roisman has been a valued adviser and resource to many on the committee as its senior counsel and chief counsel, and he developed a vast knowledge of securities law in his previous roles as counsel to commissioner Gallagher at the SEC and as chief counsel at the NYSE Euronext,” Senate Banking Committee chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said before the panel’s vote.

Mr. Roisman would be the fourth recent SEC member to come from the staff of the panel. Other former committee aides include Ms. Stein, Mr. Piwowar and current Republican commissioner Hester Peirce.

Related Topics: Securities and Exchange Commission