The SEC has named Heather Seidel as the new chief counsel for the regulator’s division of trading and markets, an internal move for Seidel, who left her position as associate director in the division’s office of market supervision to begin her new role immediately, officials say.
The chief counsel for the division provides legal and policy advice to the SEC on matters affecting broker-dealers and securities markets. The person in that position also issues interpretations on matters arising under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and manages the division’s enforcement liaison functions, officials add.
As associate director, Seidel focused on securities market operation and structure, with a focus on the options markets and other listed derivative instruments, officials say. Before assuming that position in October 2010, she worked in the division as an assistant director, senior special counsel, and attorney fellow.
Seidel’s participation in regulatory initiatives within trading and markets and the SEC “more broadly gives her valuable insight and allows her to lead critical functional areas, including recent market structure initiatives in support of Division and Commission objectives,” says Division of Trading and Markets Director Stephen Luparello, in a prepared statement.
Seidel began her securities law career at the SEC in 1996 in what was then the division of market regulation and later moved to the division of investment management, officials say. She later spent several years in the private sector, and in 1999 joined as an associate the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. In 2001, she moves on to a position as an associate and vice president in the law division of Morgan Stanley. She returned to the SEC in 2003.
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