Cordium has a new group CEO while the SEC’s office of market intelligence has a change at the top.
SEC Names Interim Chief Accountant as Deputy Chief Accountant to Exit
Wesley R. Bricker, interim chief accountant, SEC
The SEC reports that Wesley R. Bricker has been named the interim chief accountant, heading the commission’s office of the chief accountant, while Chief Accountant James V. Schnurr “recovers from a serious bicycle accident.”
In his interim post, Bricker will be the “principal advisor to the commission on accounting and auditing matters,” according to an SEC statement. “He will also consult with registrants, auditors and other industry representatives, and be responsible for the oversight of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), and carry out the other duties of the Chief Accountant.”
Bricker joined the SEC in 2015 from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), “where he was a partner responsible for audit engagements in the banking, capital markets, financial technology, and investment management sectors,” the SEC says. “He had previously served as a professional accounting fellow in Office of the Chief Accountant from 2009 to 2011.”
The SEC characterizes the office of the chief accountant as “responsible for establishing and enforcing accounting and auditing policy as well as improving the professional performance of public company auditors. The office works to enhance the transparency and relevancy of financial reporting and ensure that financial statements are presented fairly and have credibility for the benefit of all investors.”
Brian T. Croteau, deputy chief accountant, SEC
In addition, the SEC reports that Brian T. Croteau, deputy chief accountant, is “planning to leave the agency.”
Croteau, who was appointed deputy chief accountant in 2010, has managed the activities of the office of chief accountant’s professional practice group, playing a “key role in the Commission’s work related to overseeing the activities of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), managing the resolution of auditor independence matters, monitoring and addressing matters related to requirements for internal control over financial reporting (ICFR), and monitoring audit and independence standard-setting internationally,” the SEC says in a statement.
The SEC also notes that Croteau “worked collaboratively” with the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance and the PCAOB to promote increasingly integrated efforts on oversight of management and auditor assessments of the effectiveness of ICFR, officials say. He also advised the Division of Enforcement with respect to ICFR matters.
The outgoing deputy chief accountant also was integral to staff efforts to develop and recommend a concept release in which the SEC sought public comment on potential ways to improve current audit committee disclosure requirements, officials say. He worked with the Division of Trading and Markets to “support the development of a proposal and final rules requiring new compliance and exemption reporting requirements by brokers and dealers,” officials add.
In addition, Croteau offered “advice and assistance on internal control, audit, and auditor independence matters to support the Commission’s advancement of numerous rulemaking projects under the Dodd-Frank and JOBS Acts,” according to the SEC.
Prior to becoming deputy chief accountant, Croteau was an assurance partner in the auditing service group of PWC’s national offices, the SEC says, “where he was responsible for providing consultation and support regarding the implementation, application, and development of auditing policies and standards.”
Cordium Names Group CEO
Doug Morgan, group chief executive, Cordium
Cordium, a provider of governance, risk and compliance services, reports the appointment of Doug Morgan as group chief executive, effective immediately.
Morgan will be based initially in the U.S., before relocating full-time to the U.K. in the third quarter of the year, the company says.
In addition, Bill Mulligan, CEO of Cordium U.S. and software, will assume the position of group president, “reflecting both the importance of the software business to Cordium’s growth plans and his leadership in North America,” per the statement.
Morgan is a 20-plus-year veteran of financial services and technology, according to Cordium’s statement,
Bill Mulligan, CEO of Cordium U.S. and software
joining from SunGard (now part of FIS), where he had “global responsibility for the company’s business in the asset management back office servicing and accounting space, consisting of solutions for investment accounting, mutual fund shareholder reporting, investor servicing, and financial reporting.”
Morgan has also worked in roles “spanning the breadth of the asset management industry, from global custodians and traditional asset managers through to hedge funds, funds of funds and private equity firms,” officials add.
Cordium was formed by the merger of the IMS Group, HedgeOp Compliance and Evenwheel Solutions, the company says. The vendor maintains offices in London, New York, Boston, San Francisco, Malta and Hong Kong.
SEC Market Intelligence Chief to Leave
Vincente L. Martinez, chief of the SEC’s office of market intelligence
The SEC reports that Vincente L. Martinez, chief of the SEC’s office of market intelligence, is planning to leave the agency in early August. At that time, Victor J. Valdez, managing executive of the SEC’s enforcement division, will become acting chief of the office.
In 2003, Martinez joined the SEC’s enforcement division as a staff attorney and senior counsel, becoming “one of the first Assistant Directors in the Office of Market Intelligence when it was formed in 2010 as part of a major restructuring of the Enforcement Division,” the commission says in a statement.
The SEC also notes also that Martinez left the SEC in 2011, becoming first director of the CFTC’s whistleblower office, then returned to the SEC in 2013 as chief of the office of market intelligence.
The market-intelligence office “harvests intelligence in order to better inform the Enforcement Division’s investigative focus and priorities,” the SEC notes, “and the office’s staff has provided expert support for hundreds of investigations.”
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