Dive Brief:
- The Securities and Exchange Commission said Wednesday that Gibson Dunn attorney James J. Moloney has been named director of the agency’s Division of Corporation Finance, effective next month.
- Cicely LaMothe, who has served as acting director, will return to her role as a deputy director of the division, the agency said.
- “Jim is a seasoned professional who understands all aspects of corporate governance and disclosure,” SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said in a press release. “He brings decades of experience to our regulatory efforts with an eye toward supporting innovation and facilitating capital formation.”
Dive Insight:
The Division of Corporation Finance is charged with ensuring that investors are provided with information needed to make informed investment and voting decisions, including when a company initially offers its securities to the public and on an ongoing basis, according to the SEC’s website.
As part of that mission, the division selectively reviews documents companies file when they engage in public offerings, business combination transactions and proxy solicitations.
The division’s leadership change comes as the SEC is shifting its priorities under President Donald Trump, taking a less aggressive posture in areas such as cryptocurrency regulation.
Moloney previously served at the SEC for six years prior to joining Gibson Dunn, where he has worked the past 25 years, ascending from corporate associate to equity partner.
He has advised clients on corporate governance matters, disclosure rules, mergers and acquisitions, tender offers, proxy contests, and going-private transactions, among other areas.
“I am both excited and grateful for this opportunity to work with Chairman Atkins to implement a clear regulatory framework for companies to disclose valuable information to investors,” Moloney said in the SEC release. “There is much to be done, and I am looking forward to rejoining my colleagues in the Division of Corporation Finance in tailoring smart, practical, and effective regulations that will allow companies to thrive and investors to benefit.”
During his prior tenure at the SEC from 1994 to 2000, Moloney was an attorney-advisor and later a special counsel in the Office of Mergers and Acquisitions in the Division of Corporation Finance.
The SEC’s enforcement agenda has undergone sweeping changes since Trump returned to the White House in January for a second term, according to an analysis published by Gibson Dunn in July.
“Since the inauguration, the Commission has brought cases that reflect a return to ‘back to basics’ enforcement that include charges of fraud and allegations of ‘lying, cheating and stealing,’” the report said.