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December 18, 2008

Obama to Name New Chief Securities Regulator
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=2114FD6:A6F02AD83191E16012AE7E834D3725F65C6F54A6CF9DC2CA&
 
Sources close to transition team say president-elect will nominate Mary
Schapiro to head Securities and Exchange Commission 
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama is expected to announce his choice
Thursday to run the federal agency responsible for regulating many
financial markets. Mary Schapiro (file photo)Sources close to Mr.
Obama's transition team say he will nominate Mary Schapiro to head the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Schapiro currently heads a
self-regulatory group for securities firms. She also is a former head of
the Commodities Futures Trading Commission and a former SEC
commissioner. The SEC has come under fire for what many say was lax
oversight of Wall Street financial institutions before the collapse of
investment giants Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. The SEC is also
accused of failing to heed warnings about an investment fund run by
money manager Bernard Madoff. Madoff has been accused of defrauding his
clients of $50 billion. Current SEC Chairman Christopher Cox has ordered
an internal investigation to determine how the agency missed the
warning. Democratic Party officials say Mr. Obama has offered U.S.
Representative Ray La Hood, an Illinois Republican, the job of
transportation secretary. The nomination would make La Hood the second
Republican in the Cabinet after Defense Secretary Robert Gates. At a
news conference Wednesday in Chicago, the president-elect named former
Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack to head the Department of Agriculture, while
Colorado Senator Ken Salazar was named for the post of interior
secretary.


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