Chief accountant Paul Munter and chief economist Jessica Wachter are the latest to announce their departures from the SEC, just days before Donald Trump’s inauguration on 20 January.
In November, SEC chair Gary Gensler announced that he would leave the commission on inauguration day.
READ MORE: Gensler confirmed to depart SEC
Similar changes have been seen at the CFTC, where last week director of enforcement Ian McGinley shared that he would be leaving the commission on 17 January. The week before, chairman Rostin Benham announced that he would be leaving on 20 January.
READ MORE: Ian McGinley follows Behnam, jumps CFTC ship
Munter has been chief accountant since January 2023, after two years as acting chief accountant. Before joining the commission, he was a senior instructor of accounting at the University of Colorado Boulder and lead technical partner for KPMG’s international accounting and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) activities.
On his retirement from federal service, effective 24 January, Munter said: “It has been the honor of my career to serve investors and our markets as the chief accountant for the past four-plus years and lead the outstandingly talented and dedicated professionals of the Office of the Chief Accountant.”
Wachter will leave the SEC on 17 January. She has been chief economist and director of the division of economic and risk analysis since May 2021, leading economic analyses for SEC rule proposals and adoptions. These included bringing the Treasury market into central clearing, the US’s move to T+1 settlement, and improving transparency around cyber attack risks.
Gary Gensler, SEC chair, commented: “As chief economist, [Wachter] ably led a division that has a seat at the table for all of the SEC’s critical decision making, whether it’s policymaking, enforcement, or monitoring markets. I have enjoyed and learned so much from working with Jessica who has been one of my closest advisors. I wish her very well as she returns to academia.”
Before joining the commission, Wachter was a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. She is returning to the university as the Dr. Bruce I. Jacobs Chair of Quantitative Finance.
©Markets Media Europe 2024
