President Bush has named Cynthia Glassman as acting chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the White House website. Glassman, an SEC commissioner since 2002, will fill in for fellow Republican William Donaldson, who stepped down on June 30.
Late Thursday, the Bush administration formally sent to the Senate its nomination of Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.) as the new SEC chairman. His term would expire on June 5, 2009, according to the White House.
“I’m honored that the president has designated me to be acting chair, and I look forward to the arrival of Chris Cox as permanent chair, pending his confirmation,” Glassman said, according to the Associated Press.
Meanwhile, two close aids of Donaldson submitted their resignations, according to the SEC.
Peter Derby, managing executive for operations and management, announced today that he intends to leave the commission at the end of July to explore options in both the private and public sectors. And Matt Well, director of the Office of Public Affairs, intends to depart next week to pursue opportunities in the private sector.
The SEC figures to look a lot different by the fall. Several observers believe that the next group of commissioners (Democrat Harvey Goldschmid is leaving as early as this summer, and fellow Democrat Roel Campos’s term has expired) will try to roll back certain controversial implementation procedures of Sarbanes-Oxley, which were pushed through by 3-to-2 votes by Donaldson.