The announcement was the first major personnel decision for Chairman Jay Clayton. The new hire is William Hinman, a retired partner at the Silicon Valley office of legal firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. He will serve as Director of the Division of Corporation Finance.

Experience in leading IPOs

Mr Hinman has previously worked on many high-profile IPOs including some of the biggest names in social media and online shopping including Facebook, Google and Alibaba. Alibaba was an IPO that Mr Clayton also worked on while he was a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell.