Reply #23: Bush Names 2 Democrats For SEC: Vacancies Were Unfilled for Weeks By Mike Musgrove WAPO

[Demeter]

Correction to This Article
This article misstates the terms of two nominees to the Securities and Exchange Commission. If their nominations are approved by the Senate, Elisse B. Walter will serve until 2012 and Luis A. Aguilar will serve until 2010. The article also misstated Walter's title at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Walter is a senior executive vice president.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/28/AR2008032803510.html

The Bush administration nominated two Democrats Saturday to fill vacancies on the Securities and Exchange Commission. For several weeks, during a period of market turmoil, only three of the commission's five seats have been filled, all by Republicans. The party of the president is limited to three seats.

The administration nominated Luis A. Aguilar, a partner with the law firm McKenna Long & Aldridge in Atlanta, and Elisse B. Walter, a senior vice president at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a nongovernmental regulator of securities firms.

Aguilar served as a top lawyer at Invesco, an investment company. Early in his career, he worked as an SEC staff lawyer. Some Democrats and shareholder advocates have criticized Aguilar for comments he made casting doubt on the effectiveness of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which was designed to increase corporate accountability and rebuild investor confidence in the wake of corporate scandals such as Enron's.

Walter has held several posts at the SEC, where she worked for over a decade. She is also the former general counsel of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and a former chief operating officer at the National Association of Securities Dealers.

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) submitted the names to the White House for vetting in November. At the time, the selection process caused tension between these leaders and union officials; one side wanted to give business more freedom and the other lobbied for increased regulation.

Roel C. Campos, a former SEC commissioner who left last year, said it is "a very crucial time" for the agency to have both parties represented. Otherwise, he said, any steps the SEC takes "could appear to the investment community to be politically motivated."

The SEC declined to comment on the two nominees as they have not been confirmed by the Senate.

Emily Lawrimore, a White House spokeswoman, said the administration hopes the candidates will be confirmed quickly. "As the Senate gets back in session next week, we are hopeful they will promptly make progress on clearing the pipeline of the over 200 nominations pending on the Hill," she said.

If confirmed, Aguilar would fill the position left by Annette L. Nazareth, a term that would last into 2012. Nazareth left the SEC in January to work in private practice. Walter would serve for two years, finishing Campos's term.

WONDER WHO GOT THE JOB OF KICKING THE PRESIDENTIAL ASS?