Obama Taps Schapiro as SEC Chair

Schapiro brings a wealth of experience to her new position

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 18, 2008 12:32 PM CST

(Newser) – Barack Obama named Mary Schapiro as chair of the beleaguered SEC today, the Wall Street Journal reports. Schapiro's hefty resume includes stints as an SEC commissioner under former presidents Reagan and Bush, and another as acting commissioner in 1993 by Bill Clinton. Since then, Schapiro served on and eventually headed the National Association of Securities Dealers.

Schapiro presided over the merger of NASD with its NYSE counterpart that created the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Her experience will be "invaluable as the regulatory restructuring process goes forward," said Robert Glauber, a former NASD chief. But not all share that view: "Finra has not put much of a dent in fraud," under Schapiro, said one industry watcher.

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President-elect Barack Obama introduces Mary Schapiro as his designate for Securities and Exchange Commission chairman during a news conference in Chicago, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Mary Schapiro listens as President-elect Barack Obama introduces her as his designate for Securities and Exchange Commission chairman during a news conference in Chicago, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

President-elect Barack Obama's choice to head the Securities Exchange Commission Mary Schapiro at a news conference in Chicago, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)

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Schapiro is 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.
- Charles Schumer, Senator

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Obama Taps Schapiro as SEC Chair