Ex-SEC Chief Schapiro Lands New Gig at Consulting Firm
Just months after stepping down as Wall Street’s top cop, former Securities and Exchange Commission chief Mary Schapiro is joining a consulting firm that advises banks on compliance issues.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Schapiro said after nearly three decades working as a regulator, she plans to join Promontory Financial Group as a managing director, leading the firm’s governance and markets place and advising clients on risk management and compliance.
The decision to jump to Promontory, which advises banks on compliance matters, is likely to increase criticism about the relationship between regulators and the private sector.
"In my case, there's no revolving door…I won't ever be going back to government," Schapiro told the paper. After spending "28 of the last 32 years as a regulator," she decided that now is the "right time…to do something different."
Promontory didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Schapiro, who also led the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, told the Journal she won’t exploit her Rolodex of Washington contacts by lobbying on behalf of clients.
Schapiro also said she has agreed with Promontory to not appear before any federal agency on behalf of a client.
Launched in 2001 by former comptroller of the currency Eugene Ludwig, Promontory has 15 offices around the world, including in New York, Washington, London and Tokyo.
The firm has a track record for hiring former regulators, including former SEC chairman Arthur Levitt.
More than 25% of Promontory’s 400 full-time employees are former regulators, the Journal reported, including Julie Williams, the former chief counsel of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency who joined earlier this year. Williams was then replaced by Amy Friend, who had been a managing director at Promontory.
Last month Schapiro, who served as SEC chief for almost four years, agreed to serve as a director at General Electric (NYSE:GE).