Fredric D. Firestone, an associate director of enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission who spearheaded the SEC’s auction-rate securities investigations, will leave at the end February to become a partner at McDermott, Will & Emery in Washington.
During his 12 years at the commission, Firestone also oversaw significant enforcement actions and settlements in the Enron and WorldCom cases in the early 2000s. The 2008 and 2009 ARS settlements have resulted in the return of more than $50 billion to harmed investors, the largest financial remedy in the history of the SEC, officials say.
“Rick is a first-rate talent whose commitment to the SEC’s mission is in the finest tradition of senior officers in the enforcement division,” Robert Khuzami, the SEC’s director of enforcement, said in a statement. “His contributions to the division’s successes are many, and he will be sorely missed.”
Firestone, 49, joined the SEC in June 1997 as a staff attorney in enforcement. He became a branch chief in 1999, an assistant director in 2003, and associate director in 2006.
Last July, he received the SEC’s Stanley Sporkin Award, recognizing those who have made exceptionally tenacious and insightful contributions to the enforcement of federal securities laws.
Prior to joining the SEC, Firestone was in private practice and also served as a judge advocate in the Navy, where he tried numerous courts-martial. He earned both his undergraduate and law degrees from Washington University in St. Louis.
