Securities Regulation Daily Wrap Up, WORTH NOTING—Other litigation, regulatory activity and industry news, (Jul 25, 2025)

By WK Editorial Staff

A weekly roundup of other items of interest to the securities, commodities, and corporate governance communities.

PCAOB NEWS AND SPEECHES—The SEC designated George R. Botic to serve as acting chair of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, as of July 23, 2025. Former PCAOB Chair Erica Y. Williams resigned from the Board, effective July 22, 2025. Botic is a Certified Public Accountant and became a PCAOB board member on October 25, 2023. Prior to joining the board, he served as the Director of the PCAOB’s Division of Registration and Inspections, where he oversaw the registration and inspection of all domestic and foreign accounting firms that audit public companies whose securities trade in the U.S., as well as all broker-dealer audits. He previously served in various roles at the PCAOB, including its director of the Office of International Affairs, special advisor to former Chairperson James R. Doty, and deputy director of the Registration and Inspections Division. Earlier in his career, Botic was a senior manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers.

PCAOB NEWS AND SPEECHES—SEC Chairman Paul Atkins posed a statement on behalf of the Commission soliciting candidates for five Public Company Accounting Oversight Board positions, including chairperson. The PCAOB was established by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and oversees the audits of the financial statements of public companies, brokers, and dealers through registration, standard setting, inspection and disciplinary programs. Each board seat is associated with a set five-year term; any nominee selected by the Commission to fill a seat will serve the remainder of the term associated with that seat. The chairperson’s seat may be filled by either a CPA or a non-CPA, though any member who is a CPA is eligible to serve as chairperson only if that individual has not been a practicing CPA for five years preceding a possible appointment. The five seats have terms that expire on the following dates: October 24, 2026, October 24, 2027, October 24, 2028, October 24, 2029, and October 24, 2030.

SEC NEWS AND SPEECHES—The SEC will host a roundtable on September 18 to discuss trade-through prohibitions in the National Market System (NMS) stock and listed options markets. “Reg NMS and its Rule 611 have not served investors or broker-dealers well, given the market distortion and resulting gamesmanship by those that seek to take advantage of the Reg NMS structure,” said Chairman Paul S. Atkins. “It is incumbent upon the Commission to give the public an opportunity to weigh in on items in our rulebook that deserve a refresh.” The roundtable will be open to the public and held at the SEC’s headquarters at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. The discussion will be live streamed on SEC.gov, and a recording will be posted at a later date.EXCHANGES AND MARKET REGULATION—The FIA announced Darin Guries will join the industry group as vice president of U.S. Government Relations starting September 2. “We are excited to have Darin joining our team and leading U.S. government affairs, said FIA President and CEO Walt Lukken. His background of working in the U.S. Senate and for JPMorgan Chase prepares him well to support our members and advocate for our policy priorities,” he added. Guries started his career working for former U.S. Senators Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts. He then moved to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, where he served as a senior staff member focused on cryptocurrencies, derivatives, the CFTC and other issues. Following 15 years in the Senate, Guries joined JPMorgan Chase as vice president of federal government relations. During his time there, he drove the formulation of legislative positions and strategy on behalf of JPMorgan Chase related to artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, derivatives and digital assets, among other issues.

IndustryNews: CFTCNews ExchangesMarketRegulation PCAOBNews SECNewsSpeeches SarbanesOxleyAct