SEC Chairman Jay Clayton: Standing Man

by Jim Toes, Security Traders Association

One of the more memorable scenes in the popular Tom Hank’s movie, Bridge of Spies is when captured Russian spy Abel Rylance describes how Hanks’ conduct reminds him of an old neighbor.  A neighbor with a strong and humble character which he described as “stoikiy muzhik” or roughly translated, he was a Standing Man. If you can recall this scene, then I would encourage you to watch a recent interview with our new SEC Chairman, Jay Clayton. As you search for the right words, or metaphors to describe your first impression, let me know if Standing Man comes to your mind as did with me. If you’re not a Tom Hanks fan and have never seen any of his movies, I would still encourage you to watch the interview. Our industry is experiencing dramatic change. New President, new SEC Chairman, new CEO of FINRA, new chairman of the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets and the list goes on. Engaging these new leaders effectively needs to begin with understanding who they are. Social media provides a meaningful resource for learning initially what their values, skills and visions of tomorrow are and I hope you take advantage of it.

Rudolf Abel: Standing there like that you reminded me of the man that used to come to our house when I was young. My father used to say: “watch this man’. So I did. Every time he came. And never once did he do anything remarkable.

James Donovan: And I remind you of him?

Rudolf Abel: This one time, I was at the age of your son, our house was overrun by partisan border guards. Dozens of them. My father was beaten, my mother was beaten, and this man, my father’s friend, he was beaten. And I watched this man. Every time they hit him, he stood back up again. So they hit him harder. Still he got back to his feet. I think because of this they stopped the beating. They let him live. ‘Stoikiy muzhik’. I remember them saying. ”. Which sort of means like uh, ‘standing man’… standing man…

 

SEC Chairman Jay Clayton July 26th interview at Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness HERE