SEC Chairman Schapiro to Step Down
SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro today announced that she will step down on Dec. 14, 2012. The move was widely expected.
Chairman Schapiro took office in the wake of the financial crisis in January 2009. She focused on a more rigorous enforcement and examination program, and shaped new rules for Wall Street.
The SEC is now “more adept at pursing tips and complaints provided by outsiders, better able to identify wrongdoers through vastly upgraded market intelligence capabilities, and more strategic, innovative and risk-focused in the way it inspects financial firms,” according to an agency release.
In each of the past two years, the agency has brought more enforcement actions than ever before, including 735 enforcement actions in fiscal year 2011 and 734 actions in FY 2012.
In addition, the SEC engaged in one of the busiest rulemaking periods in decades. Due to new rules now in place, investors can get clear information about the advisers they invest with, vote on the executive compensation packages at companies they invest in, benefit from additional safeguards that protect their assets held by investment advisers, and get access to more meaningful information about company boards and municipal securities.
President Obama announced that he intends to designate Elisse Walter, a current SEC Commissioner, as Chair upon Ms. Schapiro’s departure next month. Prior to her appointment as an SEC Commissioner in 2008, Ms. Walter served as Senior Executive Vice President, Regulatory Policy & Programs, for FINRA. She held the same position at NASD before its 2007 consolidation with NYSE Member Regulation.
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