Robert Jackson Jr., one of five commissioners at the Securities and Exchange Commission, confirmed Thursday his intention to resign from his post next month.
Jackson will leave office Feb. 14 to resume teaching at New York University School of Law. “Serving on the Commission has been the privilege of my lifetime,” Jackson said in a statement. “I will always be proud to have served alongside my fellow Commissioners, Chairman [Jay] Clayton, and especially the Commission’s staff, who dedicate their careers to protecting ordinary investors and give hardworking American families the chance to build a better future.”
The departure of Jackson, appointed as a Democrat, will leave the SEC with two Republican commissioners, one Democrat, and an independent in Clayton. The Commission is designed to be non-partisan, and no more than three commissioners may belong to the same political party.
Jackson has often been a voice of dissent among the commissioners, with statements opposing reducing investor protections around private markets, proposed disclosure of issuer payments related to extraction of natural resources, and reforming stock exchange governance in the last month alone.
“On many occasions over the past two years, I and the Commission have benefited from substantive engagement with Commissioner Jackson on a range of issues important to our markets,” said Clayton in a statement. “I will miss discussing policy issues with Rob, including how the Commission can continue to advance its three-part mission and best serve our Main Street investors. I thank Rob for his many constructive comments and questions and wish him continued professional and personal success.”
Jackson was nominated to the SEC by President Trump and confirmed by the Senate in January 2018. His term expired in June 2019, but commissioners are allowed to continue serving up to 18 months after their term’s expiration before their replacement is confirmed by the Senate.
Reports indicate Caroline Crenshaw, a staff attorney in Jackson’s office, is a candidate to fill his seat, though she has not been formally nominated by President Trump.
Prior to his work at the SEC, Jackson was a law professor at Columbia University.
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