FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2014-15
Washington D.C., Jan. 28, 2014 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Barbara S. Lorenzen has been promoted to a senior position in the agency´s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE), which conducts the national examination program.
Ms. Lorenzen has been named the national associate director for OCIE´s Clearance and Settlement Program, which is responsible for examining clearing agencies and coordinating with regional offices to oversee approximately 450 transfer agents in the U.S.
Since arriving at the SEC in 2009, Ms. Lorenzen has worked in the Chicago Regional Office and coordinated the oversight of broker-dealer and transfer agent examinations in a nine-state Midwest region. She has been serving as acting director for the Clearance and Settlement Program since June 2013, overseeing a staff of 18 lawyers, accountants, and examiners.
"With the move toward central clearing of more types of securities transactions, our oversight of clearing agencies takes on greater importance," said OCIE Director Andrew Bowden. "Barb has extensive experience in auditing for regulatory compliance in the areas of customer protection and capital standards. She brings extensive experience and leadership to this important position."
Ms. Lorenzen said, "I feel privileged and enthusiastic about working with the clearance and settlement examination staff. I have worked alongside them for several years and know they are a group of dedicated professionals who are committed to protecting investors by informing policy, improving compliance, detecting fraud, and monitoring risk."
Prior to joining the SEC staff, Ms. Lorenzen worked for 28 years at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), where she held positions of increasing responsibility including vice president responsible for the financial surveillance and audit departments. Ms. Lorenzen has served multiple terms as chairperson of the Joint Audit Committee, which is an industry-wide committee made up of members of all domestic commodity exchanges. She also has served as vice chairperson of the Intermarket Financial Surveillance Group, which is comprised of the regulatory arms for all domestic securities and commodities exchanges as well as the SEC, CFTC, FINRA, and NFA. She served as a board member of the Futures Industry Association, where she was chairperson of the finance regulatory risk committee.
Ms. Lorenzen earned her bachelor´s degree in accounting from Western
Illinois University in Macomb, Ill.