SEC Now Has Two Commissioners as Rule Allows One-Member Quorum

The Securities and Exchange Commission is down to two sitting commissioners after Hester M. Peirce’s resignation, while a new rule permits one eligible member to form a quorum in specific disqualification cases.

The remaining commissioners are Chairman Paul S. Atkins and Mark T. Uyeda. Peirce’s resignation took effect Oct. 2, the same day the amended quorum rule became effective.

The rule keeps three commissioners as the SEC’s standard quorum. It also provides that fewer commissioners may constitute a quorum when fewer than three are in office. For a particular matter, one or two eligible commissioners can form a quorum if the other commissioners are disqualified from acting on that matter.

The SEC adopted the change Sept. 30 as an internal management rule. The provision does not itself approve a cryptocurrency rule or expand the agency’s substantive authority.

The SEC approved a proposed crypto-asset custody rule on Oct. 1, while Atkins, Peirce and Uyeda were still serving. The proposal remains under consideration, and the available SEC record does not show a later crypto-related action taken by a single commissioner under the new exception.