President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has interviewed Paul Atkins, a veteran financial regulator and eminence grise of conservative financial circles, as a candidate to lead the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to people familiar with the matter.
Atkins is a top contender for the job to replace outgoing SEC Chair Gary Gensler, the people said, who weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
Trump is expected to make a pick in the coming days, and no decisions have been made, they said.
Current SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda, Heath Tarbert, a former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Robert Stebbins, a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, are also among those being considered for the job, Bloomberg News reported earlier this month.
“President-Elect Trump has made brilliant decisions on who will serve in his second Administration at lightning pace. Remaining decisions will continue to be announced by him when they are made,” Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
Atkins and his representatives did not immediately respond to a request to comment.
