A top Wall Street lawyer known for his research on leveraged buyouts has been floated as a candidate to head the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Trump administration, the Post reported.
According to people familiar with the matter, Richard Farley, a partner at the blue-chip New York law firm Kramer, Levin, Naftalis & Frankel and chairman of the Leveraged Finance Group, will be working with Gary Gensler, the current S.E.C., on the Trump transition team. He has been added to the list of candidates to replace the committee chairman.
In recent years, Mr. Farley has represented some of the world's largest banks, including Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, and UBS, as well as financial services firms, including Cantor Fitzgerald, in major financing transactions.
In 2017, Mr. Farley represented Kantar in its sale of its shares in Sorrento Therapeutics. According to Kramer's website.
Kantar CEO Howard Lutnick is helping lead President Trump's transition team and is in charge of selection.
Mr. Farley is also a former friend of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Trump supporter who is currently eyeing a Cabinet post. He then reportedly received a text message from RFK Jr. that included a five-thumbs-up emoji indicating that Trump had won the White House. Bloomberg reported this week.
“It's over,” Farley said early Wednesday, adding that he “seemed to be in good spirits,” the newspaper reported.
Mr. Farley is still a registered Democrat.
But since he married Civach “Chel” Farley, the New York City Republican Party's finance chairman, in 2016, his social media posts have clearly been supportive of Republicans, including Trump. the official said.
His wife ran for the Senate against Kirsten Gillibrand in 2018 and then unsuccessfully ran for the House of Representatives in 2020.
Farley is an SEC historian and author of the 2015 Simon & Schuster book. The War on Wall Street: The epic battle with Washington that created the modern financial system..
In December 2012, he Wrote an opinion column for the New York Times In the wake of President Barack Obama's White House victory, he argued that it was time for a “bold choice” for the new SEC chief, adding that “a successful market expert on Wall Street, preferably like Joseph Kennedy, has no vested interests.” “I'm looking for someone who doesn't mind offending others.” ”
Farley was a partner at Cahill Gordon from 2000 to 2011.
He spent nearly five years as a partner at Paul Hastings before joining Kramer Levin. Mr. Farley, who recently heads a private credit company, recently spoke on Bloomberg TV about how the shadow banking system works.
Farley declined to comment Friday when contacted by the Post about a possible SEC candidacy.
Other names reportedly in the running for the SEC's top post include Dan Gallagher, Robinhood's chief legal officer and former SEC commissioner, according to Politico.
There's also former Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Chris Giancarlo, also known as “CryptoDad.” Former SEC General Counsel Robert Stebbins, currently a partner at Willkie, Farr & Gallagher. Politico reported that current SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce also holds the Republican seat.
Trump administration officials are discussing ways to return agencies like the SEC to their original purpose mandated by Congress as the government's consumer protection arm, the Post reported.
High on the list of priorities is firing Gensler and ridding the office of all traces of him, who has rumored to want to finish his term in office until June 2026, the Post reported. .
