Paul Atkins just put a fellow crypto-friendly veteran in charge of one of his SEC’s most powerful arms. On Wednesday, he picked James Moloney, a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, to lead the division of corporation finance, the unit that checks company disclosures and signs off on IPO filings.
The SEC confirmed that James will start next month. But this isn’t James’ first time in the building. He worked inside the SEC from 1994 to 2000, focusing on mergers and acquisitions and corporate filings. So this isn’t some rookie walking in with a briefcase and a dream.
Paul said:
“I am eager to get to work with Jim, Cicely, and others in the Division of Corporation Finance to modernize and improve our existing rules and alleviate disclosure burdens. I appreciate Cicely’s leadership in the Division and her dedicated service to our agency and our markets.”
Moloney to rewrite how the SEC handles crypto, earnings, and new rules
The unit James is stepping into handles the gritty stuff. They don’t do press tours. They dig through financial reports, force companies to be honest about risks, and push back when earnings numbers don’t follow the official accounting playbook.
They’re also the same folks who tell companies how to disclose executive pay, or how much the CEO got paid in cash, stock, or whatever shady bonus they invented that year.
Lately, that same team has been busy handing out crypto guidance. They’ve made it pretty damn clear that assets like memecoins and stablecoins aren’t securities, at least not in their book. That puts them directly in the middle of the regulatory turf war.
James isn’t shy about his agenda either. “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,” he said.
There’s also the Clarity Act hanging over all this. If Congress passes it, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission gets first crack at crypto regulation. But it won’t leave the SEC on the sidelines. They’ll need to work together on joint rules, meaning James and his division would help define exactly how the game is played.
Cicely LaMothe, who’s been filling in as head of the division, isn’t leaving. She’s sliding back into her old seat as deputy director, the SEC confirmed.
James walks in at a time when the agency’s role in crypto is under the microscope, and Paul has always said he wants people on his team who know both the law firm hustle and the internal SEC maze.
