Dem official: Obama taps Mary Schapiro to head SEC Wednesday December 17, 11:07 pm ET By Marcy Gordon, AP Business Writer Democratic official: Obama picks veteran regulator to head embattled SEC WASHINGTON (AP) -- President-elect Barack Obama has chosen a veteran of the Securities and Exchange Commission to lead and revitalize the agency now facing growing criticism for its failure to protect investors at a time of unprecedented market turmoil. A Democratic official said Wednesday that Obama had chosen Mary Schapiro, a securities industry regulator with extensive experience in Washington, as chairwoman of the SEC. She would become the first woman to head the agency, established in the 1930s in the tumult of the Great Depression. Schapiro is currently the chief executive officer of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the securities and brokerage industry's self-policing organization. She previously was chairwoman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and served for six years as an SEC commissioner under Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Schapiro is well respected in Washington circles as a regulator and is considered an effective, if somewhat low-key, administrator. She couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday night. Schapiro brings "significant administrative experience" to the job, said Barbara Roper, director of investor protection at the Consumer Federation of America. And that would be useful "given that we're looking at what is essentially a broken agency," she said. Schapiro "has had a real open door as far as we've been concerned," Roper added. The SEC stands at what could be one of the most difficult times in its history, buffeted by criticism for failing to detect signs that major Wall Street banks were in trouble before the financial crisis erupted and for possibly lax oversight and enforcement in other areas. As the scandal involving disgraced money manager Bernard Madoff has stunned Wall Street and injured investors around the globe, revelations surfaced that staff at the SEC repeatedly failed over the course of a decade to fully investigate credible allegations against Madoff. SEC Chairman Christopher Cox on Tuesday said he was "gravely concerned" by the breakdown in oversight and ordered the agency's inspector general to investigate what went wrong. "We need a lot of dynamism in order to repair the damage that the SEC has suffered" to its reputation, said Mercer Bullard, head of a mutual fund watchdog group and a former SEC attorney. "We need more than just a steady hand. We need someone to re-establish the authority and credibility of the SEC." Style-wise, Schapiro "needs to turn it up a notch" -- something she may well be capable of, Bullard suggested. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., a member of the Senate Banking Committee, called Schapiro "the kind of strong and experienced regulator that we very much need in these times." "I believe her nomination could be approved quickly and without controversy in the Senate," Schumer said in a statement. But Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog in Santa Monica, Calif., said a more strongly pro-investor regulator was needed to lead the SEC. "She can be trusted to enforce regulations, but she probably won't strengthen them," said Court. "She isn't a shill for the industry, but she is more of a caretaker. This sends the wrong message at the wrong time when we need a really strong regulator to restore confidence in the economy." Among other names that had been floated as possible Obama choices for SEC chairman, some consumer advocates felt more favorably toward Harvey Goldschmid, a law professor at Columbia University and former SEC commissioner, and Damon Silvers, associate counsel at the AFL-CIO labor federation. Obama was expected to make official his appointment of Schapiro on Thursday. The official who signaled the selection did so on condition of anonymity because the person wasn't authorized to discuss personnel matters not yet made public. Roper, from Consumer Federation, noted that Schapiro came to FINRA, then known as NASD Regulation, in 1996, when the organization had a black eye resulting from dissatisfaction with its policing of traders in the Nasdaq stock market following a scandal there. That parallels the situation now faced by the SEC, Roper said. Among other charges, the SEC has drawn criticism that its oversight of the big Wall Street investment houses -- rotting from within from piled-up securities tied to subprime mortgages -- was lacking. Cox has responded that the agency has taken decisive actions in response to the market turmoil, including an unprecedented temporary ban this fall on short-selling of stocks of financial companies. The SEC also has procured billions of dollars in settlements with big investment banks that have agreed to buy back auction-rate securities from investors hurt by the collapse of that market in February. Associated Press writers Nedra Pickler in Chicago and Michael Liedtke in San Francisco contributed to this report. http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081217/obama_sec.html
But Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog in Santa Monica, Calif., said a more strongly pro-investor regulator was needed to lead the SEC. "She can be trusted to enforce regulations, but she probably won't strengthen them," said Court. "She isn't a shill for the industry, but she is more of a caretaker. This sends the wrong message at the wrong time when we need a really strong regulator to restore confidence in the economy." Bingo. Nothing here that instills confidence in the regulation industry. Instead just someone who will watch over things. This is another reason why someone like Cramer who would really stir things up would never be considered as a real candidate. Gives me no confidence.
Obama needs to appoint more people from Illinois to key posts. That's "change" we can all believe in.
notice obam keeps hiring people from the grassroots so-called community service people, i think serving the community & running a country /w global impact is quite a different ball game
Need somebody who has a sense of vision and proportion. They were micromanaging - thinking of preventing the little guy from over trading while presided over the collective loss of trillions.
My initial reaction was terribly negative. However, I have been assured the opposition, our guys, Republicans, were going to fight anyone they didn't like with fierce opposition. They have been assured this lady will do the job. And they are comfortable with whatever assurances they received. It seems Barry is reaching out. I don't know why he's got a FINRA person in there, and I have no say. So, I have to keep my fingers crossed the Republicans are correct. That, and it's like Grand Admiral Karl Doernitz at the end of WWII. The Admiral was put in charge of Nazi Germany at the end of WWII. What was he going to do? Launch a third front?