Mary Shapiro Named SEC Chairman by President-Elect Barack Obama
Mary Shapiro, formerly the chief executive of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, has been named Chairman of the SEC by President-Elect Barack Obama.
As reported in Compliance Week, Mary Shapiro has a wealth of experience in leadership positions at regulatory agencies. In addition to her time at FINRA, Shapiro was the chairman and CEO at the National Associated of Securities Dealers, and has also served as chairman of the Federal Commodity Futures Traders Commission and as a Commisioner at the SEC.
Mary Shapiro claimed she was “honored and humbled” by the appointment she received by Preisdent-Elect Obama. Furthermore, according to the Compliance Week story:
“As the events of the past year—even the past week—have shown us, this is a perilous time for investors. Americans are looking to policymakers and regulators to restore stability and trust to our financial markets,” she said.
Calling investor trust “the lifeblood of our financial markets,” Schapiro said the only way to restore that trust is through “effective, thoughtful reform of our regulatory structure and the consistent and robust enforcement of our financial regulations, and this will be my top priority.”
Undoubtedly, Mary Shapiro has her work cut out of her as SEC Chairman. The recent economic downturn, in conjunction with story after story of corporate malfeasance and negative expectations for the immediate future, have Shapiro stepping into a tough situation. President-Elect Obama is obviously counting on Shapiro’s vast regulatory experience to help guide her decision-making as Shapiro tries to restore investor confidence in Wall Street.
Discussion Questions for Comment Section:
- Do you think Mary Shapiro was a good choice for SEC Chairman by President-Elect Obama?
- What immediate actions should Mary Shapiro take as she attempts to restore investor confidence and fix and obviously broken regulatory system?
Tags: barak obama, mary shapiro, People, sec
