The Securities and Exchange Commission announced yesterday that its director of corporation finance will leave the agency at year’s end. John W. White, who joined the SEC in March 2006 participated significantly in the agency’s drive to modernize investor disclosure and work towards a more efficient system of financial reporting, specifically the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
In the statement announcing White’s resignation, the departing director is cited as having promoted both IFRS and Sarbanes-Oxley implementation, as well as going along with the SEC’s broader mission of an increased technological and global presence. “John White’s leadership…has resulted in many substantial achievements for investor protection,” said SEC chairman Chris Cox. “John’s work has increased transparency for investors when that is what our markets have needed most. The SEC and America’s investors could not have had a better leader during these challenging times.”
Said White, “It has been a privilege to serve under Chairman Cox and the other members of the Commission and alongside the agency’s talented and dedicated staff—they are among the government’s finest.” White will return as a partner to the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore following his stepping down.
White’s departure from the SEC may be the first of many, according to the Journal. Though SEC staff members are not required to leave with a presidential change, some opt to do so. One staffer who will surely step down in January is chairman Chris Cox, whose inactive role in recent months had drawn widespread criticism.