Washington, D.C., Nov. 18, 2010 — The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that Henry T. C. Hu, the Director of the Division of Risk, Strategy, and Financial Innovation since its creation in September 2009, plans to leave his position at the agency and return to the University of Texas in January.
The SEC's first new Division in 37 years, Risk Fin was created to provide sophisticated, interdisciplinary analysis across the entire spectrum of SEC activities, including policymaking, rulemaking, enforcement, and examinations. In addition to this role as an agency "think tank," Risk Fin was created to help break down silos that compartmentalized the SEC's institutional expertise.
Under Mr. Hu's leadership, the Division has hired individuals who have financial, quantitative, and transactional experience in corporate governance, derivatives, risk management, and trading at major hedge funds, investment banks, and law firms, as well as individuals with advanced academic training, including Ph.Ds in economics, finance, and mathematics. With these new skill-sets, Risk Fin has helped in the agency's efforts to identify, analyze, and respond to complex risks and trends, including those associated with certain new financial products and strategies.
"When I asked Henry to join us at the SEC, he interrupted his life and academic career to help us launch Risk Fin and set the SEC on a new path. Interdisciplinary thinking is no longer a novelty at the SEC, thanks to Henry," said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro. "I am deeply grateful to Henry for the great start that he has given the Division, and for his valued judgment on a wide range of important substantive issues."
Mr. Hu said, "The opportunity that Chairman Schapiro provided was exceptional: a chance to serve as a catalyst for change amidst the most striking capital market and regulatory developments since the 1930s. The SEC has outstanding, dedicated people. I deeply appreciate the support and friendship of the SEC's leadership, my wonderful Risk Fin colleagues, and others throughout the agency. Risk Fin is, and hopefully will always be, a work in progress, one as dynamic as today's capital markets."
In addition to his lead role in creating Risk Fin, Mr. Hu has provided advice on key substantive matters to the Commission and other staff at the SEC. He testified before Congress on landmark derivatives legislation, and is now involved in the implementation of the pertinent provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act.
Mr. Hu holds the Allan Shivers Chair in the Law of Banking and Finance at the University of Texas School of Law and has written on the law and economics of asset allocation, bank, derivatives, hedge fund, and mutual fund regulation, board fiduciary duties, corporate governance, global competitiveness of U.S. derivatives markets, model risk, risk management, and swaps and other financial innovations.
Mr. Hu's publications include seminal articles on the systemic and other risks posed by derivatives, including Misunderstood Derivatives, a 1993 Yale Law Journal article. More recently, he was the lead author on a series of pioneering articles on the "decoupling" of debt and equity, its impact on corporate and debt governance and world systemic risk, and possible disclosure and substantive responses. Mr. Hu holds a BS in Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, an MA in Economics, and a JD, all from Yale University.