US Securities and Exchange Commission
After nearly four years as agency head, SEC chair Mary Jo White announced that she intends to leave at the end of the Obama administration. White, who became the 31st chair of the SEC in April 2013, will be one of the commission’s longest serving chairs despite stepping down before her term expires in 2019.
The SEC has five commissioners who are appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. Their terms last five years and are staggered so that one commissioner’s term ends on 5 June of each year.
To ensure that the commission remains non-partisan, no more than three commissioners may belong to the same political party. The president also designates one of the commissioners as chairman. There are currently two vacancies on the commission, with White soon to make three.
During White’s tenure, the commission brought more than 2,850 enforcement actions, more than any other three-year period in the SEC’s history, and obtained judgments and orders totalling more than $13.4bn (£10.7bn, €12.4bn) in monetary sanctions.
Over 3,300 companies and more than 2,700 individuals were charged during the period, including chief executive, chief financial officers, and other senior corporate officers.
No formal reason was given for her decision to step down.
She said: “It has been and will always be critical for this agency and the public that the SEC remain truly independent. That independence is crucial to our ability to protect investors, safeguard our markets and facilitate the capital formation that fosters innovation and the growth that is essential to our national economy.”
Zurich
Zurich has announced the appointment of Tulsi Naidu as chief executive of its UK business, subject to regulatory approval. She will report to Gary Shaughnessy, chief executive for Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA).
Naidu will lead the overall UK business as its General Insurance and Life functions are further integrated. The respective heads of Zurich’s General Insurance, Global Corporate, and Life businesses in the UK (Conor Brennan, Vinicio Cellerini and Anne Torry, respectively) will form part of her UK leadership team.
Naidu joined Zurich as head of business development for Emea in September this year. Before joining Prudential, she worked for Credit Suisse First Boston Investment Banking in Singapore, ICICI in Mumbai, and started her career at Arthur Andersen.
Legal & General Investment Management
Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) has announced the appointment of Aaron Meder as chief executive of Legal & General Investment Management America (LGIMA) and Anton Eser was appointed as chief investment officer of LGIM in the UK. Both roles will report into Mark Zinkula, chief executive of LGIM.
Meder will transition into the role over the next few months and will be based in Chicago. He first joined LGIMA in 2010 and moved to LGIM’s London office in 2013, becoming head of investment in 2015, responsible for LGIM’s investment, trading and product teams.
He replaces Robert Moore who departed LGIMA in September 2016. John Bender has been acting as interim chief executive since Moore’s departure.
Eser, who joined LGIM in 2006 and is currently co-head of LGIM’s Global Fixed Income business, will succeed Meder when he takes up his new role in Chicago.
