White to leave SEC when Obama steps down

Mary Jo White will step down from US regulator after three years in the role.
By Hayley McDowell

Chair at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mary Jo White, has announced she will leave her position at the end of President Obama’s administration.

White became chair at the SEC in April 2013 and has driven major financial reforms and regulations during her time with the US watchdog.

The SEC said under White’s leadership, it brought more than 2,850 enforcement actions, more than any other three-year period in its history and obtained judgments and orders totalling more than $13.4 billion in monetary sanctions.

The SEC also pushed over 50 rulemaking initiatives during this time, including reforms to the money market fund industry, equity market structure oversight controls and safeguards for investors in the security-based swap market.

White said her duty has been to “ensure that the [SEC] implemented strong investor and market protections.”

“I am very proud of our three consecutive years of record enforcement actions, dozens of fundamental reforms through our rulemakings that have strengthened investor protections and market stability,” she added. 

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