Elisse B. Walter (born April 14, 1950) was the 30th Chair of the

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...

( SEC) from December 14, 2012 – April 10, 2013. She was appointed chair by

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on November 26, 2012, and sworn in on December 14, 2012.National Association of State Boards of Accountanc
"New SEC Appointments"
January 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-08. She was originally appointed as one of five SEC Commissioners by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and sworn in on July 9, 2008. Under designation by President Obama, she later served as Acting Chair during January 2009.SEC Biography.
Retrieved 2013-04-08."Concise Directory:Commissioners"
SEC webpage section. Retrieved 2013-04-08. She served as a Commissioner of the SEC until August 9, 2013. On January 24, 2013,

Obama nominated

Mary Jo White Mary Jo White (born December 27, 1947) is an American attorney who served as the 31st chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from 2013 to 2017. She was the first woman to be the United States Attorney for the Southern District o ...

to be Walter's successor as chair.

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was confirmed by the Senate on April 8, 2013, and was sworn into office on April 10, 2013.

Education

Walter was born to a

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family in

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. She attended Pembroke College at Brown University in 1967 and graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

with a B.A., ''cum laude'', in mathematics. She received her J.D. degree, ''cum laude'', from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

. She graduated from Herricks High School in New Hyde Park, Long Island, NY.

Career

Walter is a member of the Board of Directors of

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and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). She also serves as a member of the board of governors of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), as well as a members of the boards of directors of the FINRA Investor Education Foundation and the National Women's Law Center. Walter held a Democratic seat on the

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, succeeding Annette Nazareth, who left the SEC in January 2008 to work in private practice. Walter was recommended for the Commissioner position by Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) in 2007, along with fellow Commissioner Luis A. Aguilar."Elisse B. Walter: Why She Matters"
in ''Who runs Gov'', a ''

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'' publication. Three pages. Article last edited Mar. 08, 2011, by Steven P. Mitchell. Updated retrieval 2011-04-22. Her term on the

ended June 5, 2012 but she continued to serve until August 9, 2013. Prior to her appointment as an SEC Commissioner, she served as Senior Executive Vice President, Regulatory Policy & Programs, for the

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is a private American corporation that acts as a self-regulatory organization (SRO) that regulates member brokerage firms and exchange markets. FINRA is the successor to the National Associati ...

(

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). She held the comparable position at the

National Association of Securities Dealers The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is a private American corporation that acts as a self-regulatory organization (SRO) that regulates member brokerage firms and exchange markets. FINRA is the successor to the National Associati ...

( NASD) before its 2007 consolidation with NYSE Member Regulation and redesignation as

. Walter coordinated policy issues across

and oversaw a number of departments including Investment Company Regulation, Corporate Financing, Member Education and Training, Investor Education, Emerging Regulatory Issues, and Disciplinary Affairs. She also served on the board of directors of the

Investor Education Foundation. Prior to joining the NASD, she served as General Counsel of the

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( CFTC). Before joining the CFTC in 1994, she was the deputy director of the Division of Corporation Finance at the SEC. She served on the SEC's staff beginning in 1977, both in that Division and in the Office of the General Counsel, including service as Associate General Counsel. Before joining the SEC, she was an attorney with a private law firm in Washington, DC, Arent, Fox, Kintner, Plotkin and Kahn. Walter served on the Board of Trustees of Jewish Women International and the SEC Historical Society and is a member of the Academy of Women Achievers of the YWCA of the City of New York, according to her official biographies. She has been the recipient of a variety of honors, including the SEC Distinguished Service Award, the US Government SES Distinguished Executive Award, the Association of SEC Alumni SECAWilliam O. Douglas Award and the Federal Bar Association Manual F. Cohen Younger Lawyer and Philip A. Loomis Jr. Awards.

SEC chair

Walter became chair when her predecessor,

Mary Schapiro Mary Lovelace Schapiro (born June 19, 1955) served as the 29th Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). She was appointed by Presidency of Barack Obama, President Barack Obama, unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and assum ...

, stepped down on December 14, 2012. Walter was serving a five-year term that ended in June 2012, but Commissioners can serve an additional 18 months after their terms end, according to a ''MarketWatch'' report at the time her appointment was announced. Even at that time,

Obama was likely to nominate someone for a full term soon thereafter, the report said. Walter "told agency officials that she plans to serve for a short time. The White House, which faces more pressing cabinet-level nominations, is expected to name an S.E.C. successor next year," the NY ''Times'' reported then.

Issues

Walter has led the SEC's in-depth review of the municipal securities markets. In August 2008 at an opening meeting of the SEC, Walter expressed her support for the implementation of

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for U.S. companies, but cautioned that a ruling from the SEC was far from finalized. "Most important, we have to keep in mind that no one knows for certain what the future will hold," she said. "I strongly believe that we have to prepare for the alternative that the

will determine not to adopt, or permit the use of,

IFRS International Financial Reporting Standards, commonly called IFRS, are accounting standards issued by the IFRS Foundation and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). They constitute a standardised way of describing the company's fina ...

for U.S. issuers. … ere are significant hurdles to overcome over the next three years in order for the

to determine to accept

reporting from U.S. issuers." Another issue she addressed, while at the

, was the NASD's regulatory activities regarding inappropriate sales of certain investment products to members of the

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. Testifying before a

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subcommittee in May 2006 concerning the NASD's financial education programs focused on military service members and their families, she addressed issues raised by a particular broker-dealer, First Command Financial Planning, Inc. of

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, which had been making inappropriate sales of products and services, including the sale of an investment product called Periodic Payment Plans or PPPs. First Command had targeted and sold more than a half million complicated and often extremely expensive PPPs to servicepersons. After investigation and censure, the firm was fined $12 million in December 2004. That amount included restitution, and funding for the NASD Investor Education Foundation. As of 2006, First Command informed the NASD that it has ceased selling PPPs.

Personal

Walter is married to Ronald Alan Stern, who served as the chief antitrust attorney for

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

until September 2014.Bewig, Matt
"Acting Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission: Who Is Elisse Walter?"
''allgov.com'', December 01, 2012. They have two children. Walter has two siblings, a brother, Alan N. Walter, an attorney, and a sister, Abra J. Walter, a psychologist.

Publications

*Walter, E. B., "Regulating Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers: Demarcation or Harmonization?," ''Journal of Corporation Law'' (2009) 35(1).

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walter, Elisse B. 1950 births 21st-century American women lawyers Brown University alumni Harvard Law School alumni Living people 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American lawyers Members of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Politicians from New York City Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Yale College alumni Lawyers from New York City Obama administration personnel George W. Bush administration personnel 21st-century American women civil servants