Steven Wallman is the former commissioner 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). Wallman held this position from 1994 to 1997. He has also founded several companies, including Folio Financial, Inc. and Proxy Governance, Inc.

Biography

Steven Wallman was sworn in as a commissioner of the SEC on July 5, 1994, having been appointed by

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

. Wallman previously was a partner at law firm

Covington & Burling Covington & Burling LLP is an American multinational law firm. Known as a white-shoe law firm, it is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and advises clients on transactional, litigation, regulatory, and public policy matters. The firm has addition ...

. Wallman received a J.D. from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and a B.S. and

M.S. A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medicine ...

from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

. In his time with the SEC, he fought for the "decimalization" of stock prices (i.e., using decimals instead of the then-standard fractions, e.g., $10.25 instead of $10¼) on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

, and AMEX. After much testing and various pilot programs, the first day of decimalized stock prices took place on March 26, 2001. Wallman is the founder of several companies, including Folio Financial, Inc.
acquired in 2020
by

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

) and Proxy Governance, Inc. In late September 2008, Wallman published
commentary
in the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' to help solve the credit crisis without a bailout by using taxpayer-provided funds to make money available to homeowners who live in their homes (and not speculators) to stabilize housing. Wallman's plan is to provide financial institutions a government guarantee in lieu of any penalties or foreclosure to homeowners that have a mortgage in distress the current or missed payments under the mortgage. When a borrower agrees to have the government take over the mortgage payments, the mortgage company notify the government, then the government to make the payments, and the borrower would sign a note agreeing to repay the government with interest at the same rate currently required under the borrower's mortgage. In late September 2008, FOLIOfn released
media advisory
that Wallman is available to comment on the proposed

Proposed bailout of United States financial system The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, also known as the "bank bailout of 2008" or the "Wall Street bailout", was a United States federal law enacted during the Great Recession, which created federal programs to "bail out" failing fi ...

. Wallman currently serves on

FINRA The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is a private American corporation that acts as a self-regulatory organization (SRO) that financial regulation, regulates member brokerage firms and exchange (organized market), exchange markets. ...

's FinTech Industry Committee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallman, Steven Members of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Clinton administration personnel People associated with Covington & Burling Columbia Law School alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni