Lawmakers To Obama: Replace SEC's Cox

[babylonsister]

Obama Faces `Urgent' Task in Replacing SEC's Cox, Lawmakers Say

By Jesse Westbrook



Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) -- President-elect Barack Obama should act quickly to name a new leader for the Securities and Exchange Commission, an agency that has drawn fire for not doing enough to regulate markets and protect investors, lawmakers said.

``The new administration will have no more urgent priority, in my view, than putting a team of capable, experienced and qualified economic leaders swiftly in place, from the Treasury secretary, to the Federal Reserve and the Securities Exchange Commission,'' Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said yesterday at a Washington news conference.

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox, 56, has said he will step down at the end of the Bush administration. Potential successors include William Brodsky, chief executive officer of the Chicago Board Options Exchange; Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel Capital Management; and Gary Gensler, a former Treasury Department undersecretary and partner at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., congressional aides, SEC officials and lobbyists said.

``It's part of the economic team that President-elect Obama'' should assemble ``quickly,'' Senator Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, said in an interview yesterday. ``You want someone, obviously, who's knowledgeable of markets and has good judgment with strong investor protection being the key,'' said Reed, who leads a banking subcommittee that oversees the SEC.

The regulator's reputation has been tarnished by the collapses of Bear Stearns Cos. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. as well as criticism from lawmakers that it hasn't aggressively enforced securities laws. The next chairman will face the challenge of restoring the agency's luster and fighting for its relevancy as Congress considers overhauling financial regulation.

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