The Wall Street Journal has reported that an official close to the President-elect’s transition team revealed Mr Clayton, a lawyer with Sullivan & Cromwell whose clients include Goldman Sachs and Barclays Capital, as the likely successor to current SEC chairman Mary Jo White. With Mr Trump’s nominee expected to be announced this week, it seems that Mr Clayton has overtaken former frontrunner and Los Angeles-based Gibson Dunn & Crutcher partner Debra Wong Yang as the future president’s top pick.

From Wall Street to Washington

If appointed, Mr Clayton would the latest Wall Street figure to score a role in Mr Trump’s administration, following in the footsteps of former Goldman Sachs executive Steven Mnuchin (nominee for Treasury secretary), former Goldman Sachs president Gary Cohn (who will run the National Economic Council), and private equity investor Wilbur Ross (nominee for head of the Department of Commerce). 

Sources: Wall Street Journal; Reuters