The Bush Administration announced late Friday afternoon that it plans to fill the two open Democratic slots on the Securities and Exchange Commission with two securities lawyers: Luis Aguilar, a partner with McKenna Long & Aldridge in Atlanta; and Elisse Walter, a senior executive vice president at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, according to Dow Jones newswires.
Last year Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recommended to President Bush that Aguilar and Walter fill the empty seats. The five-person commission cannot have more than three members from the President’s party, which is what it has now.
If Aguilar is confirmed by the Senate, he would fill the seat previously held by Roel Campos, with a term expiring in June 2010. Walter would serve until mid-2012, completing the term of Annette Nazareth, according to the report.
Aguilar, a former SEC attorney, reportedly spent nearly 10 years as a general counsel of a unit of Invesco PLC (IVZ), an investment-advisory firm. He left to join law firm Alston & Bird in 2003.
Walter held her current post at Finra’s predecessor, the National Association of Securities Dealers, according to the news service. She previously was general counsel of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and deputy director of the SEC’s corporation-finance division.