SEC appoints David Saltiel as Acting Director of the Division of Trading and Markets
Gary Gensler has had a few issues while setting up his team of directors.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has appointed David Saltiel as Acting Director of the Division of Trading and Markets as Chair Gary Gensler continues to set up his team.
Mr. Saltiel, who is replacing Christian R. Sabella, joined the SEC in 2016 and served as the head of the Office of Analytics and Research in the Division of Trading and Markets. He joined the SEC from the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, where he was Chief Economist.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler said: “I look forward to continuing to work with David and thank him for lending his knowledge and experience as Acting Director. I thank Christian for his dedication and service to the SEC over the last 10 years.”
Christian R. Sabella, the departing director, has served as both Acting Director and Deputy Director for the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets.
During his SEC tenure, Mr. Sabella served in various roles on the Trading and Markets staff, including as a Branch Chief in the Office of Derivatives Policy and Trading Practices, a senior special adviser to several Trading and Markets directors, and as Associate Director for the Division’s Office of Clearance and Settlement.
Gary Gensler has had a few issues while setting up his team of directors. In April, the SEC Chair named Alex Oh as Director of the Division of Enforcement, but she unexpectedly resigned her position for personal reasons after nearly one week on the job.
Ms. Oh gave in to mounting criticism from progressives over her past work as a corporate defense lawyer following a federal court ruling in a case involving one of her corporate clients, ExxonMobil.
“A development arose this week in one of the cases on which I worked while still in private law practice. I have reached the conclusion that I cannot address this development without it becoming an unwelcome distraction to the important work of the Division”, Ms. Oh stated in her resignation email to SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
Three leading progressive advocacy groups – Demand Progress, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and the Revolving Door Project – have recently expressed their surprise and disappointment toward Alex Oh’s appointment as Director of Enforcement and urged Gary Gensler to withdraw her hiring.
Ms. Oh represented Fortune 100 companies during the two decades she worked at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and the progressive groups told SEC’s Gensler they doubted she “will change her entire legal philosophy toward fully enforcing the very laws and regulations whose enforcement she has built a career of defending against.”
