President to Nominate Two Candidates to Fill Open Commission Seats
 
April 7, 2008
 

On March 28, 2008, President Bush announced his intention to nominate long-time regulator Elisse B. Walter and Luis Aguilar, an Atlanta attorney, to fill the two vacant Democratic seats on the Securities and Exchange Commission. Currently, the Commission has only three Republican members, Chairman Christopher Cox and Commissioners Paul Atkins and Kathleen Casey. The Commission has been under pressure from Congress and institutional investors to refrain from acting on a controversial proxy access initiative without a full complement of commissioners. If the nominations are approved by the Senate Banking Committee and the full Senate, Ms. Walter would fill out a term ending
June 5, 2010, and Mr. Aguilar, a term ending June 5, 2012.

Ms. Walter currently serves as senior executive vice president, Regulatory Policy and Programs at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a title she held at NASD before its 2007 consolidation with NYSE Member Regulation. Previously, Ms. Walter has served as general counsel of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and as deputy director of the SEC Division of Corporation Finance. Mr. Aguilar is a partner at McKenna, Long & Aldridge LLP. Earlier in his career, he served as general counsel of INVESCO and practiced in several national law firms and as a staff attorney at the SEC.

Commissioner Atkins, whom the President appointed in July 2002, reaches the end of his current term in June 2008. SEC commissioners, however, may remain in their positions for up to 18 months beyond a term’s end, unless a successor is appointed sooner. Atkins’ office confirmed that he has given no public indication about how long he will remain at the Commission.

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