The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Nov. 21 that its 33rd Chair, Gary Gensler, will step down from the SEC on Jan. 20, 2025. Gensler started his tenure on April 17, 2021, after the GameStop market events, according to the SEC.

He led the SEC through a robust rulemaking agenda to improve the efficiency, resiliency and integrity of the U.S. capital markets. He also led consequential enforcement cases that both held wrongdoers accountable and returned billions to investors, SEC said.

“The Securities and Exchange Commission is a remarkable agency,” Gensler noted. “The staff and the Commission are deeply mission-driven, focused on protecting investors, facilitating capital formation, and ensuring that the markets work for investors and issuers alike. The staff comprises true public servants. It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve with them on behalf of everyday Americans and ensure that our capital markets remain the best in the world.

“I thank President Biden for entrusting me with this incredible responsibility. The SEC has met our mission and enforced the law without fear or favor. I’ve greatly enjoyed working with my fellow Commissioners, Allison Herren Lee, Elad Roisman, Hester Peirce, Caroline Crenshaw, Mark Uyeda, and Jaime Lizárraga. I also thank Congress, my colleagues across the U.S. government, and fellow regulators around the world,” he stated.

In terms of the world of accounting, during Gensler’s stint as SEC Chair, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), which the SEC oversees, successfully negotiated a Statement of Protocol with Chinese market authorities. This allowed, for the first time, the PCAOB to fully inspect and investigate the auditors of China-related firms listed in the U.S. In the last couple of years, the PCAOB was able to fulfill its inspection and enforcement-related tasks on audit firms in China and Hong Kong.

Since Gensler was sworn in, the PCAOB has updated 18 interim standards and two other standards, reflecting today's oversight needs in accounting and auditing, according to the SEC.

To put this in context, in April 2021, the PCAOB had only updated five of the standards it adopted on an interim basis when it was created 20 years ago. The interim standards had been carried over from existing AICPA standards, and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act envisioned that the PCAOB would update them soon after its creation.

Prior to the SEC, Gensler led the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) from 2009 to 2014. During his stint at the CFTC, Gensler oversaw a series of new regulations in response to the financial crisis, as well as the prosecution of big banks for their role in the LIBOR rigging scandal.