SEC’s Aguilar to Leave by Year End

SEC Commissioner Luis Aguilar announced Monday that he will be leaving his post by the end of December, or sooner if George Washington University law professor Lisa Fairfax is confirmed by the Senate to assume his position.

In a Monday letter to President Barack Obama, Aguilar said that it has "been an honor and a privilege" to serve as an SEC commissioner for the past seven years.

Aguilar, whose term officially ended on June 5, noted that he's only one of three Commissioners who have been nominated by two different presidents from two different political parties in the Commission's history.

Aguilar, a Democrat, has been a staunch advocate of the SEC promulgating a uniform fiduciary rule for brokers and advisors.

The White House announced on Oct. 20 that it nominated Fairfax and George Mason professor Hester Peirce to replace Aguilar and former-Republican SEC Commissioner Daniel Gallagher, who left his post on Oct. 2. Gallagher's term was to expire in 2016.

If confirmed by the Senate, Peirce — a senior research fellow at George Mason University's Mercatus Center – will replace Gallagher. She also has served as a lawyer for the Senate Banking Committee and is a verbal opponent of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law.

In addition, Pierce would likely oppose a fiduciary rule issued by the SEC that imposes the Investment Adviser Act fiduciary duty on brokers.

Fairfax is the Leroy Sorenson Merrifield Research Professor of Law at the George Washington University Law School. Prior to joining the GW law faculty, she was a professor of law and director of the Business Law Program at the University of Maryland School of Law.

Both Peirce and Fairfax are expected to be confirmed by the Senate by the year end.

SEC’s Aguilar to Leave by Year End

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SEC’s Aguilar to Leave by Year End

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