The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that J. Russell “Rusty” McGranahan has been named SEC General Counsel. As the SEC’s chief legal officer, Mr. McGranahan will oversee the provision of legal expertise and advice to the Office of the Chairman, Commissioners, and agency staff.
Jeffrey Finnell, who has served as Acting General Counsel, remains at the Commission as Deputy General Counsel.
“I have known Rusty for many years and am excited to have recruited someone of his caliber and experience to my senior team. In addition to being a seasoned securities and M&A lawyer, he has served as both a public company and government agency general counsel. I expect Rusty to deploy these skills immediately across a wide range of priorities, including our initiatives to strengthen the capital markets and deliver on a robust rulemaking agenda,” said SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins.
“I thank Jeff for his service as Acting General Counsel,” Chairman Atkins continued. “I am pleased that he will continue serving at the Commission as Deputy General Counsel. His sound judgment and deep expertise in the securities laws are invaluable to the SEC.”
Mr. McGranahan said, “It is an honor to have the opportunity to join the SEC and the Chairman’s senior team during this period of rapid technological and financial innovation. I look forward to working with my new SEC colleagues to embrace developments in a manner that responsibly fosters and maintains America’s preeminence in financial services and capital formation.”
Mr. McGranahan’s career spans 30 years at a number of top companies and firms. He was recently the General Counsel of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), setting the course for a number of key initiatives during the first 10 months of this Administration. Prior to GSA, Mr. McGranahan was the General Counsel of Focus Financial Partners, a wealth management firm. He was with Focus Financial for nine years, leading the legal function through an explosive period of growth, including its IPO in 2018 and going private transaction in 2023. Before Focus Financial, Mr. McGranahan spent nine years with BlackRock, serving as Managing Director, M&A Counsel, and Corporate Secretary.
Mr. McGranahan began his career at Skadden, Arps and at White & Case, and for three years was based in Eastern Europe where he worked on some of the first public offerings from the region.
Mr. McGranahan earned his J.D. from Yale Law School and his B.A., summa cum laude, in Economics and Politics from the Catholic University of America. Mr. McGranahan has also earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.