The Securities and Exchange Commission announced yesterday that Robert Khuzami, general counsel for Deutsche Bank Americas and a former prosecutor of terrorists and other criminals, will succeed Linda Chatman Thomsen as director of enforcement.
Thomsen had previously announced her intention to leave the agency for the private sector.
Separately, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority was reportedly poised to name as its new chief executive officer Richard Ketchum, the current chief executive of NYSE Regulation Inc. Ketchum would replace Mary Schapiro, who left FINRA to head the SEC.
Spokesmen at NYSE Regulation and FINRA declined to comment. Ketchum's appointment was first reported yesterday by the Wall Street Journal.
Prior to joining the New York Stock Exchange in 2004, Ketchum spent 12 years at NASD - a predecessor organization to FINRA - and Nasdaq Stock Market Inc.. He served as president of both organizations. He also worked for 14 years at the SEC, eight as director of the division of market regulation, now known as trading and markets.
Khuzami's appointment to the SEC comes after Schapiro vowed to overhaul the regulator's enforcement division following its perceived slow response to the financial crisis and its inability to detect Bernie Madoff's $50 billion Ponzi scheme in spite of concerns raised by a whistleblower.
But Thomsen will continue to work at the commission to ensure a smooth transition. Khuzami's start date has not yet been decided, SEC spokesman John Nester said.
Previously, Khuzami served as a federal prosecutor for 11 years with the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan. As chief of that office's securities and commodities fraud task force for three years, he prosecuted numerous complex securities and white-collar criminal matters, including those involving insider trading, Ponzi schemes, accounting and financial statement fraud, organized crime infiltration of the securities markets, and initial public offering and investment adviser fraud, the SEC said in a statement.
He also prosecuted Sheik Omar Ahmed Ali Abdel Rahman and nine other defendants for their involvement in an international terrorist organization responsible for, among other things, the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.
