• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind

2

Scott Bessent casually says the U.S. has more than $1 trillion in gold—and that it doesn’t matter for the dollar

3

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

1

The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind

2

Scott Bessent casually says the U.S. has more than $1 trillion in gold—and that it doesn’t matter for the dollar

3

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
Leadership

SEC Chair White Will Continue Making Rules Whether Republicans Like It or Not

By
Reuters
Reuters
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Reuters
Reuters
Down Arrow Button Icon
December 13, 2016, 4:34 AM ET
SEC's First Asset-Manager Rules Coming In Q3, White Says
SEC chair Mary Jo White: She has enough on her plate without having to be America's income-inequality cop.Photograph by Andrew Harrer — Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White on Monday defied requests by Senate Republicans to delay adopting new rules on everything from derivatives to mutual funds until after President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

In a letter to the Senate Banking Committee’s top two Republicans, Chairman Richard Shelby and Mike Crapo of Idaho, White stressed it was “incumbent” on the SEC to “exhibit a spirit of firm independence” in performing its regulatory duties “without fear or favor.”

White’s Dec. 12 letter, which was reviewed by Reuters, comes in response to a request last month by Shelby and Crapo for the SEC to cease adopting rules until after Trump had a chance to review the agency’s agenda.

Republicans in Congress have been pressing agencies across the federal government to wind down their rulemaking activities.

Trump has vowed to kill many regulations put on the books during the Obama administration, including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law.

White, an independent, is slated to step down from her post at the end of Democratic President Barack Obama’s term in January.

 

The Senate failed to confirm Obama’s two nominees for vacant commissioner slots at the SEC before it recessed last week, which means that after White departs next month, the SEC will only be left with two commissioners—one Democrat and one Republican.

Even before she leaves, she could still fail to get the rules passed if she cannot get a quorum of commissioners to agree.

Trump has yet to announce a nominee for SEC chair, but many of the people working on his financial regulatory transition team, such as former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins, have been highly critical of many of the SEC’s rules and Dodd-Frank more broadly.

In White’s letter on Monday, she provided Shelby and Crapo with a list of all the rules currently ready for a vote.

Among the rules on the list are derivatives reforms mandated by Dodd-Frank, such as capital and margin requirements for swap dealers, as well as a more controversial one that would limit how mutual funds and exchange-traded funds use derivatives to leverage returns.

The letter did not say when the SEC might vote on the rules. The agency could do it during an open meeting or behind closed doors. An SEC spokeswoman declined to comment on the timing.

“I am not insensitive to the issues raised by your letter and have carefully considered what impact, if any, the election should have on the current work of the Commission,” White wrote.

She added that she had confirmed that the SEC “historically has proceeded with its work during comparable post-election periods.”

In support of her position, White included footnotes in her letter citing prior statements by Republican SEC Commissioner Mike Piwowar, who is poised to become acting chair in January, in which he voiced support for completing new derivatives rules.

This is not the first time the SEC has faced criticism on efforts to complete rules before a change in leadership at the regulator.

In 2005, a federal appeals court sided with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in a dispute with the SEC over controversial rules requiring the majority of mutual fund board directors to be independent.

The court sent the rule back to the SEC with a directive to consider its costs.

Then-SEC Chairman William Donaldson promptly scheduled a meeting and the SEC re-adopted it a day before his resignation, saying the rule would not be overly costly.

The rule was subsequently overturned a second time, and the court chided the SEC for failing to follow proper rulemaking procedures.

Even if White is successful in adopting final rules in the coming weeks, Congress may have a way to undo them when Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

By law, Congress can vote to reverse regulations within 60 legislative days of them becoming final—which could be easier to accomplish under a Republican-controlled Congress and White House.

About the Author
By Reuters
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Leadership

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Leadership

bots
AIAI agents
Turns out Dead Internet Theory was right: AI agents are eating the Web, growing by nearly 8,000% and rewiring the Internet’s business model
By Mia OsmonbekovJuly 23, 2026
6 hours ago
Alphabet’s SpaceX stake fuels a $98 billion gain, beating estimates
Big TechMarkets
Alphabet’s SpaceX stake fuels a $98 billion gain, beating estimates
By Barbara Ortutay and The Associated PressJuly 23, 2026
9 hours ago
Benjamin Franklin's experiment with the kite.
AIScience
The Trump administration is revamping the era of the ‘gentleman scientist.’ It’ll cost $200 billion
By Eva RoytburgJuly 23, 2026
10 hours ago
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos
SuccessBillionaires
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos could be the latest American billionaire to buy into European soccer clubs—he’s eyeing up a stake in Liverpool FC
By Emma BurleighJuly 23, 2026
10 hours ago
Sanae Takaichi
Successwork-life balance
Despite Tokyo’s push for a 4-day week for better work-life balance, Japan’s prime minister boasts sleeping just ‘zero to three’ hours a night
By Preston ForeJuly 23, 2026
11 hours ago
All hail London—whatever the U.K.’s new Prime Minister says 
EuropeLetter from London
All hail London—whatever the U.K.’s new Prime Minister says 
By Kamal AhmedJuly 23, 2026
13 hours ago

Most Popular

The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind
Real Estate
The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 22, 2026
1 day ago
Scott Bessent casually says the U.S. has more than $1 trillion in gold—and that it doesn’t matter for the dollar
Economy
Scott Bessent casually says the U.S. has more than $1 trillion in gold—and that it doesn’t matter for the dollar
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 22, 2026
1 day ago
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
Success
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
3 days ago
Spain lifted the World Cup, but the IRS still gets a cut of its $50 million pay day as players, coaches and refs all face complex U.S. “jock taxes”
Personal Finance
Spain lifted the World Cup, but the IRS still gets a cut of its $50 million pay day as players, coaches and refs all face complex U.S. “jock taxes”
By Joshua HongJuly 23, 2026
19 hours ago
'The man who dies rich dies disgraced': The last time America had such wealth inequality, Andrew Carnegie knew he had to give it all away
Success
'The man who dies rich dies disgraced': The last time America had such wealth inequality, Andrew Carnegie knew he had to give it all away
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 22, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of oil as of July 23, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 23, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 23, 2026
16 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.