Change we can believe in.
Cox has said he will leave the SEC by the end of the Bush administration, and the Obama team will face pressure to restore confidence by naming a successor quickly. One of several people floated as candidates is a former SEC commissioner, Mary Schapiro, who is now chief of Wall Street’s self-regulator, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. She served under the Clinton administration in 1994 as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and as an SEC commissioner from 1988 to 1993.
UPDATE: Obama will name Mary Schapiro chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission, two Democratic officials said.
Ray Lahood (R-IL) will be named Transportation Secretary.
From modemocrat's informative diary on the subject yesterday:
Mary Schapiro - Schapiro would seem to be a logical candidate based on her diverse experience in the public regulation of the markets with both the SEC and the CFTC, followed by her stewardship over self-regulating bodies first as CEO of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) and when that merged with the NYSE's self-regulating body she became CEO of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). She is also currently a director on the boards of both Duke Energy and Kraft Foods.
What worries me the most though is that so many of these problems in the current market seemed to have occured on her watch. Through her involvement with the NASD, she also would have somewhat close ties to the Madoffs and faces tough questions for FINRA's failures to detect the Madoff fraud.
The SEC wasn't the only regulator to be criticized over the Madoff affair. Bill Singer, a securities lawyer in New York who represents investors and firms, cited the role of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the securities industry's self-policing organization.
The organization, known as FINRA, only has authority to inspect and discipline securities firms and brokers; its jurisdiction doesn't extend to investment advisory firms.
"Everything ... apparently went on right under the nose of FINRA," Singer wrote on his blog. "When its staff did its yearly examinations, either things were disregarded, missed or overlooked."
Provided by My mom is my hero in the comments:
Mary L. Schapiro
Mary L. Schapiro is CEO of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the largest non-governmental regulator for all securities firms doing business with the U.S. public. Ms. Schapiro also serves as Chairman of the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, the largest foundation in the U.S. dedicated to investor education.
Created in 2007 through the consolidation of NASD and NYSE Member Regulation, FINRA is dedicated to investor protection and market integrity through effective and efficient regulation and complementary compliance and technology-based services.
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Prior to assuming the CFTC chairmanship, Ms. Schapiro served for six years as a Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission. She was appointed in 1988 by President Reagan, reappointed by President Bush in 1989 and named Acting Chairman by President Clinton in 1993.
In January 2008, Ms. Schapiro was appointed by President George W. Bush to the President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy, a 19-member council formed to promote and enhance financial literacy among Americans. She is also an active member of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and was Chairman of the IOSCO SRO Consultative Committee from 2002 until 2006.