30 Apr New Heads of SEC Enforcement

New SEC Chairman Mary Jo White announced a rare thing, two co-heads of the Enforcement Division of the SEC. These are the guys that go after alleged bad guys through civil lawsuits. As we know, any criminal securities cases are brought by the US Justice Department, the SEC does not bring criminal cases.

She combined an SEC veteran, George Canellos, who had been deputy director and acting director of enforcement, with Andrew Ceresney, a former federal prosecutor who was worked with Chairman White for years. He was a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton, where Ms. White also was when President Obama tapped her for SEC Chair.

The DealFlow Report noted that several attorneys they spoke to believe that Canellos probably will not stay very long and is likely to head back to the private sector, so the two-headed directorship may not be a long-lasting thing.

Focusing on this as one of her first appointments clearly sends a message that enforcement is going to be a high priority for Chairman White. Best of luck to the new SEC enforcement heads.