The Securities and Exchange Commission have announced that Walter G. Ricciardi will retire as Deputy Director of the Division of Enforcement in June. He will join the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP as a partner in the firm’s New York office.
Ricciardi, who joined the staff from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in April 2004 to run the Commission’s Boston office, was quickly promoted by SEC Chairman Christopher Cox in October 2005 to be one of two Deputy Directors in the Enforcement Division, operating from the Commission’s office in Washington, D.C.
In that role, he assisted in planning and directing the Commission’s investigations and other enforcement efforts. Since April 2007, when he moved to the Commission’s New York office, Ricciardi additionally has had responsibility for overseeing the enforcement efforts of the Commission’s 11 regional offices. Since December 2007, he has served as the sole Deputy in the Division of Enforcement.
On 4 June 2008, Ricciardi will be awarded the Commission’s Stanley Sporkin Award, which recognises those who have made “exceptionally tenacious and insightful contributions” to the enforcement of the federal securities laws.
As a hallmark of his tenure, Ricciardi fostered a close working relationship between the Enforcement Division and the Commission’s other divisions and offices, as well as with other state, federal and global securities regulators and self-regulatory bodies, including FINRA and the PCAOB. He also led the SEC teams conducting a number of significant investigations, and successfully initiated and implemented major enhancements in the management and operations of the Division.
“Walter Ricciardi, as much as anyone in the Commission’s modern history, has professionalised the management of the SEC’s enforcement program both in Washington and in the SEC’s regional offices across the country,” says Christopher Cox, chairman, SEC.
Mr. Ricciardi’s career prior to joining the Commission’s staff began with service as the law clerk to the Hon. Charles R. Richey, U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia. He also was the Deputy General Counsel-Litigation for Coopers & Lybrand, and after the firm’s merger with Price Waterhouse, the leader of the Litigation Practice Group of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where he led the defense of the firm and its personnel with regard to litigation and investigations.
At PwC, Mr. Ricciardi also was elected by the firm’s partners to serve as a member of the Board of Partners and Principals, which has responsibility for partner admissions, compensation and oversight of the management of the firm. He also was elected by the partners of the PwC international member firms to serve as a member of the Global Oversight Board of the global organisation of the PwC firms.