SEC Enforcement Director to Step Down

Securities and Exchange Commission Enforcement Director, Linda Thomsen, whose unit is the target of congressional scrutiny for failing to detect Bernard Madoff’s alleged $50 billion fraud, will step down as new SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro replaces senior management. Thomsen, head of the division since 2005, will return to private practice after 14 years at the SEC.

Schapiro, appointed by President Barack Obama, is replacing senior managers after being sworn in Jan. 27 with a pledge to “reinvigorate” an enforcement arm faulted by lawmakers for missing Madoff’s alleged Ponzi scheme. Former federal prosecutor Robert Khuzami, now a top Deutsche Bank AG lawyer, is the lead candidate to succeed Thomsen.

Schapiro on Feb. 7 named David Becker, 61, a partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in Washington, to be the SEC’s chief legal officer and senior policy adviser. She has also asked Commissioner Elisse Walter, a Democrat, to seek candidates who may replace other senior managers, people familiar with the matter said last week.

While it’s not unusual at all for a chairman to bring in his or her own people, Schapiro is wasting no time in making her "mark" on the SEC!