The Securities and Exchange Commission named Luis Mejia as its new chief litigation counsel on Wednesday. He succeeds David Kornblau, who departed in August.
Mejia, who will lead the enforcement division’s trial attorneys, is “an exceptionally talented trial lawyer and a superb legal tactician,” said the division’s director, Linda Chatman Thomsen, in a statement. Mejia joined the commission in November 1999 as assistant chief litigation counsel and currently serves as the lead litigation counsel for the SEC’s ongoing Enron investigation.
Mejia has also been involved with other significant investigations and settlements at the SEC, including the AOL Time Warner accounting fraud case, the Datek Securities improper proprietary trading case, and the global-research-analyst settlement regarding alleged conflicts of interest between research and investment banking departments.
In addition, Mejia has successfully prosecuted former Evergreen Media chief executive officer Scott Ginsburg on insider trading laws as well as professional sports agent William H. Black, who defrauded his clients out of approximately $12 million.
The commission has seen several other departures lately. Chief accountant Donald Nicolaisen announced last month that he would be leaving public office in October for the private sector. William Donaldson, the 27th chairman of the SEC, stepped down on June 30 and was succeeded by Christopher Cox.
Separately, the SEC announced that Cox will be traveling to Beijing from October 15 to 19 to meet with Chinese financial authorities in the U.S.-China Joint Economic Committee and to discuss China’s capital markets. Talks will include an exchange of views on regulatory policy, accounting, and enforcement issues.
More broadly, the meetings will address key issues including economic policy, investor protection, and capital formation, as well as efforts to combat terrorist financing and money laundering.