Sec Cryptocurrency SEC Announces Departure of Chief of Staff Prashant Yerramalli and Appointment of Amanda Fischer to the Role

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Chief of Staff Prashant Yerramalli will leave the agency, effective Dec. 31, 2022. Amanda Fischer, currently Senior Counselor to Chair Gary Gensler, will be appointed Chief of Staff, effective upon Mr. Yerramalli’s departure.

“I have the deepest appreciation for Prashant. His counsel, judgment, and leadership have been invaluable to the agency and me,” said Chair Gensler. “He has a deep understanding of the capital markets and the SEC. He is a wonderful colleague who has earned the respect of everybody who has had an opportunity to work with him. Working with Prashant has been a joy, and his many contributions to the SEC have made our markets stronger.”

“Amanda has been one of my most trusted advisers both since joining the SEC and during the Biden-Harris transition,” Gensler added. “She is a remarkable talent with an exceptional background in policymaking from her time on Capitol Hill and at the agency. She has a firm grasp of complex regulatory issues in the capital markets. I’m delighted that she will be taking on this new role.”

Mr. Yerramalli has served as the SEC’s Chief of Staff since Jan. 20, 2021, initially under Acting Chair Allison Herren Lee and subsequently under Chair Gensler upon his swearing in on April 17, 2021. Mr. Yerramalli has served as one of Chair Gensler’s lead advisers and has worked with Commission staff on all aspects of the agency’s mission, including rulemaking and policy, enforcement, strategy, personnel, management, operations, communications, and legislative affairs. During his tenure as Chief of Staff, Mr. Yerramalli worked with Chair Gensler and agency staff as the SEC pursued a regulatory agenda to advance the interests of working families and to aggressively hold wrongdoers to account. He first joined the Commission in 2014 as an attorney in the Division of Enforcement and served in the Division’s Asset Management Unit. He later served as a senior counsel to former Commissioner Robert J. Jackson Jr., whom he advised on enforcement and rulemaking.

Outside of the SEC, Mr. Yerramalli held roles at Brookfield Asset Management, Jenner & Block, and WilmerHale. He began his career in public service as a law clerk to the Hon. Naomi Reice Buchwald in the Southern District of New York. He received a J.D. from Harvard Law School and an A.B. from Brown University.

“As my thousands of colleagues across the country know, the SEC is a special place, and it is a privilege to be a part of it,” Mr. Yerramalli said. “It has been an honor to work with Chair Gensler to lead the dedicated staff of this agency and to work with him and the other Commissioners to improve the financial futures of American families. I could not be more grateful for the opportunity that I have had to serve in this role, and I’m confident that the agency and the investing public will be well-served by Amanda when she takes over as Chief of Staff.”

Ms. Fischer has served as Senior Counselor to Chair Gensler since June 2021. She is one of Chair Gensler’s principal advisers, focused on rulemaking and interagency work. Immediately before joining the SEC, Ms. Fischer was the Policy Director at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, a non-partisan research organization focused on economic policy. Earlier in her career, she worked for more than a decade on Capitol Hill in roles related to financial services policymaking, including as Chief of Staff for Congresswoman Katie Porter, Professional Staff on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, as a Policy Advisor for Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, and as Deputy Staff Director for the House Committee on Financial Services. She graduated with bachelor’s degrees in business administration and public policy from the University at Buffalo and an M.A. in public policy from Georgetown University.

“I thank Prashant for his service to the SEC,” said Ms. Fischer. “I developed a deep respect for the Commission through my career working on investor protection and capital formation issues, and my respect for the staff has grown deeper in my time at the agency. I am honored that Chair Gensler has given me the opportunity to continue to work alongside the agency’s dedicated staff to support our mission.”