…But being a prosecutor is one thing, and being a top regulator is another. In the near term, the Commission faces many huge decisions. The Dodd-Frank financial reforms, designed in part to limit the risks big banks can take, and the so-called JOBS act, intended to bolster the ability of small businesses to raise capital, have been signed into law. But the agency has yet to write most of the rules spelling out exactly how the laws will operate. In that sense, no matter how tough a prosecutor White has been, her lack of experience as a regulator could hinder her leadership.
“Over the next few years, the SEC will really determine the shape of the capital markets for some time to come, and we’re going to have a chairman who is somewhat of a mystery in how she makes those decisions,” Roper said.
Meanwhile, White will be facing pressure from the most powerful and well-funded financial companies in the world to use a light hand, and working for an administration that has shown little appetite to take on those institutions in a significant way.