Washington, D.C., May 15, 2013 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Lona Nallengara has been named the agency´s chief of staff.
Mr. Nallengara came to the SEC in March 2011 and served as deputy director for legal and regulatory policy in the Division of Corporation Finance until he was appointed in December 2012 as its acting director.
Mr. Nallengara has led a series of complex rulemakings by the Division of Corporation Finance stemming from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act.
"Lona has been superb in leading the Division and has demonstrated tremendous judgment, intelligence and knowledge," said Mary Jo White, SEC Chair. "In my short time here, I have come to appreciate his broad grasp of the agency´s overall agenda and his understanding of the Commission and its mission."
Mr. Nallengara added, "My time in the Division of Corporation Finance has been incredibly rewarding. It has been an honor to work with the talented staff in the Division and across the agency on behalf of the nation's investors, and I look forward to continuing to work with them in my new role."
As a deputy director, Mr. Nallengara was responsible for overseeing the Division of Corporation Finance´s offices of chief counsel, enforcement liaison, international corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and small business policy.
Mr. Nallengara joined the SEC from Shearman & Sterling LLP in New York, where he was a partner in the Capital Markets practice group and advised public companies and financial institutions on a wide range of capital raising activities. Mr. Nallengara also served as the firm´s co-hiring partner, co-chair of its associate development committee and international associates and trainees committee, and as a member of the firm´s diversity committee.
Prior to joining Shearman & Sterling LLP in 1998, Mr. Nallengara practiced in the corporate group at the law firm of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP in Toronto.
Mr. Nallengara, 42, earned his law degree in 1996 from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto and his undergraduate degree in Political Science in 1993 from the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada.
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The SEC also announced today that Keith Higgins has been named the new director of the SEC´s Division of Corporation Finance.