Following up on our earlier report that Mary Jo White, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, will step down at the end of the Obama administration, news of other departures within the SEC has begun to spread. The latest is Keith Higgins, head of the Division of Corporation Finance, who announced his plans to leave the SEC in January. According to Sarah N. Lynch at Reuters, Higgins was oversaw the adoption of many rules pursuant to the 2012 Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act.
Other top SEC officials who have recently announced their planned departures include: Stephen Luparello (Trading and Markets Division Director), Mark Flannery (Chief Economist), Matthew Solomon (Chief Litigation Counsel), and James Schnurr (Chief Accountant).
According to Lynch, Andrew Ceresney (SEC Enforcement Director), who worked alongside White prior to joining the SEC, both in private practice and at the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York City, declined to comment on any plans to leave the SEC.
As we noted previously, these departures will continue to pave the way for President-Elect Trump to to deregulate the financial sector.
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