The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Nathaniel Stankard, deputy chief of staff for policy, will be leaving the agency.
Since being named deputy chief of staff in May 2013, Mr. Stankard has served as a senior advisor to Chair Mary Jo White on a broad range of complex legal and policy matters, including all aspects of rulemakings before the Commission, significant market events, and the agency's implementation of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act. He has also been responsible for coordinating teams from across the agency to implement the rulemaking agenda of the Commission and has served as the Chair's principal policy liaison to the Financial Stability Oversight Council and other federal financial regulators.
SEC Chair Mary Jo White said, "Nathaniel is brilliant, always provides thoughtful and sound legal advice, and has extraordinary judgment. He is truly a key reason why so many important rules got done. He is a person of the highest character and unparalleled capability, always doing what is right and just on behalf of America's investors and our markets. I could not be more fortunate, proud, or grateful to have had Nathaniel as such an integral part of my team."
"The strength of the Commission is rooted in its staff, and I have been privileged to work closely with extraordinary teams from across the agency to enhance the Commission's oversight of the securities markets," said Mr. Stankard. "I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve under Chair White's leadership to protect investors."
During Mr. Stankard's time working with Chair White, the Commission advanced more than 50 major rulemakings, including significant measures addressing equity market structure, asset management, corporate disclosures, over-the-counter derivatives, capital raising by smaller issuers, credit rating agency operations, asset-backed securities, clearance and settlement, and municipal advisors.
Mr. Stankard joined the Commission in June 2010 as counsel to the director of the Division of Trading and Markets. Previously, he was an executive director at Morgan Stanley and an associate at the law firm of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP.
Mr. Stankard earned his law degree cum laude from Harvard Law School and his undergraduate degree in economics magna cum laude from Oberlin College.