Harvey Pitt
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Harvey Pitt was appointed 26th chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2001. He served as chairman until 2003. He oversaw the bankruptcies of Enron and WorldCom. He led the SEC in restoring the Nation's securities markets to full operations after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and instituted a policy of "real time enforcement" to make the SEC's enforcement efforts more effective.
He worked to reconcile the demands of accountants, financial services firms, public companies, institutional shareholders, legislators and stockholders with such legislation as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Prior to that he was a partner of a global Washington, DC law firm and was widely considered one of the preeminent experts in his field. He coined the phrase 'corporate Darwinism'.
He announced his resignation from the SEC on November 5, 2002, amid controversy over his appointment of William Webster to head the new Public Company Accounting Oversight Board created by Sarbanes-Oxley and assumed conflicts of interest in his personal holdings.
He was a founder and first president of the SEC Historical Society [1].
Mr. Pitt graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1961, Brooklyn College with a bachelor's degree in 1965, and from St. John's University School of Law with a JD degree in 1968. From 1968 to 1978, he served on the Staff of the SEC, eventually becoming the agency's youngest-ever General Counsel in 1975, at the age of 30. Mr. Pitt received an honorary LL.D. degree from St. John's University School of Law in 2002, and received the President's Medal of Distinction from the President of Brooklyn College in 2003.
He is the father of four, a popular columnist with Compliance Week, and a sought-after speaker and regular commentator in webcasts and television interviews on financial matters. He is now the Chief Executive Officer of the global strategic consulting firm, Kalorama Partners, LLC.
| Preceded by Arthur Levitt |
Securities and Exchange Commission Chair 2001 – 2003 |
Succeeded by William H. Donaldson |
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| Chairmen of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission |  |
|---|---|
| Kennedy • Landis • Douglas • Frank • Eicher • Purcell • Caffrey • Hanrahan • McDonald • D Cook • Demmler • Armstrong • Gadsby • Cary • Cohen • Budge • Casey • B Cook • Garrett • Hills • Williams • Shad • Ruder • Breeden • Levitt • Pitt • Donaldson • Cox |
