SEC Chair

No. 132
Wednesday July 11, 2001 Page A-10
ISSN 1523-567X
Regulation, Law & Economics

Securities and Exchange Commission
Bush Formally Nominates New SEC Chair,
Tapping Former General Counsel Harvey Pitt

President Bush formally nominated Washington lawyer Harvey Pitt July 10 to
become the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, a
spokesman for the Senate Banking Committee confirmed that day.
Pitt, a partner in Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, served as
general counsel of the SEC from 1975 to 1978 before entering private
practice. The White House said May 10 that it would nominate Pitt to head the
agency.
Pitt's nomination will be considered by the Senate Banking Committee, which
is headed by Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.), before it can be voted on by the
full Senate. The committee spokesman told BNA that no confirmation hearing
has yet been scheduled.
If confirmed by the Senate, Pitt would serve the remainder of a five-year
term expiring June 5, 2003. He would succeed Arthur Levitt, a Democrat, who
chaired the SEC for seven and a half years before stepping down in February.
Levitt was the longest serving SEC chairman in the agency's 67-year history.

Large Law Practice

Since Levitt's departure, Commissioner Laura Unger has served as the
commission's acting chairman. Currently, Unger and Commissioner Isaac Hunt
are the only two members of the SEC.
At Fried Frank, Pitt has developed one of the country's largest and best
known securities law practices. He has represented securities industry groups
and companies in dispute with the SEC. However, Pitt is perhaps most renowned
for having served as defense counsel to the notorious Ivan Boesky at the time
of the Wall Street insider trading scandals in the late 1980s and early
1990s.
Pitt received a J.D. from St. John's University Law School and is a graduate
of City University of New York, Brooklyn College.
In May, news of the president's intention to nominate Pitt sparked seemingly
universal praise by key members of Congress, regulators, the securities bar,
and the securities industry.
In response to the formal nomination, the Senate Banking Committee's ranking
Republican member, Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), issued a statement saying, "Mr.
Pitt has few peers in his depth of experience in the operation of America's
securities markets and the impact of the laws and regulations which protect
investors." Gramm said he looked forward to "timely consideration" of Pitt's
nomination.
At the same time, Securities Industry Association President Marc Lackritz
said of Pitt in a statement, "I believe that under his leadership, the SEC
will be an effective advocate for efficient, fair, competitive, and
well-regulated U.S. capital markets." The association's general counsel,
Stuart Kaswell remarked that "there is no one with a more in-depth knowledge
of securities law," and said that Pitt will do "a great job representing
investors' interests."

Copyright , 2001 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Washington D.C.