One Step Ahead

[Ignutz]

Thomsen tapped to lead SEC enforcement

New chief joined regulatory agency in 1995; oversaw SEC's probe into Enron scandal.
May 12, 2005: 2:19 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top lieutenant of former Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement chief Stephen Cutler will replace him, the SEC said Thursday, making Linda Thomsen the first woman to hold the job.

Thomsen, 50, takes over what some consider the most powerful staff position in the agency, with the SEC setting records in recent years for the magnitude and severity of enforcement actions brought against securities lawbreakers.

"I am so pleased that she's been willing to accept this job," SEC Chairman William Donaldson told reporters after speaking to a financial officers group here.

"She is a very firm person in terms of cracking down on malfeasance and so forth. But she has an ability to talk to people, to hear the other side," he said.

Thomsen joined the SEC in 1995 as assistant chief litigation counsel. In 2002 she became deputy director of the enforcement division. She has overseen the SEC's handling of the massive scandal at energy trading group Enron Corp.

The commission said last month that Cutler was stepping down to return to private practice after heading the enforcement unit since October 2001.

The SEC did not say who will be Thomsen's new deputy.

Before joining the SEC, Thomsen was in private practice at Davis Polk & Wardwell in Washington and New York and served as an assistant attorney for the District of Maryland.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/12/news/newsmakers/thomsen_sec.reut/