President Barack Obama will nominate Mary Jo White to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, tapping an attorney with broad experience in prosecuting white-collar crimes to lead an agency that has a central role in implementing Wall Street reform. [Associated Press]
THIS NOMINATION puts former U.S. attorney in Manhattan, the first woman to hold the spot, who has a reputation for tough prosecution of fraud cases up to lead the Security and Exchange Commission.
If confirmed, Ms. White brings with her the anticipation of more enforcement during her tenure.
Since leaving government service in 2003, Ms. White has been working for the law firm Debvoise and Plimpton
From that link, a list of some of their biggest clients, with emphasis added:
Some of Debevoise’s clients include: AIG, American Airlines, American Express, AXA, BNP Paribas, The Carlyle Group, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, The Coca-Cola Company, CNN, Delta Air Lines, Deutsche Bank, Gap, Goldman Sachs, Hasbro, International Paper, JPMorgan Chase, Kelso & Company, MetLife, National Football League, National Hockey League, NBC, The New York Times Company, Providence Equity Partners, Prudential Financial, Polyus Gold, Siemens, Shell Oil Company, SONY, Universal Music Group, Verizon, Yahoo!
Most of the prosecution her Wikipedia entry mention are for terrorism and other high-profile things, but not much for financial crimes beyond the aborted investigation of Marc Rich. I don’t expect much from her.
Correction: Debevoise & Plimpton, a prestigious international law firm that appears to specialize in takeovers and the like, though they did some work on behalf of Guantanamo detainees.