Obama names Elisse Walter, a current commissioner, to take over SEC amid debate over Dodd-Frank
Mary Schapiro, who led the world’s most powerful securities regular in the years since the 2008 financial collapse and shepherded in implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act, will step down as head of the SEC next month.
President Barack Obama says he intends to nominate Elisse Walter, a current commissioner, to replace Schapiro as chair of the SEC. ‘I'm confident that Elisse's years of experience will serve her well in her new position, and I'm grateful she has agreed to help lead the agency,’ he says in a statement.
Walter, who was appointed as commissioner to the SEC by then-President George W Bush, formerly served as senior executive vice president for regulatory policy at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA.
The 57-year-old Schapiro, who first served as a Ronald Reagan-appointed commissioner in 1988, has overseen a record high number of enforcement actions in the last two years of her term at the SEC – with 735 in fiscal year 2011 and 734 in fiscal year 2012.
‘It has been an incredibly rewarding experience to work with so many dedicated SEC staff who strive every day to protect investors and ensure our markets operate with integrity,’ Schapiro says in a statement on the SEC website.
‘Over the past four years we have brought a record number of enforcement actions, engaged in one of the busiest rulemaking periods, and gained greater authority from Congress to better fulfill our mission.’
In her four years at the helm of the SEC, Schapiro oversaw implementation of a new whistleblower program, introduced mandatory registration of advisers to hedge funds and private funds, and tightened regulation of asset-backed securities.
Much of Schapiro’s controversial time as head of the SEC, though, was centered on implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act, and dealing with other fallout from the 2008 financial collapse.
