Harvey Pitt

Harvey Pitt
26th Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission
In office
August 3, 2001 – February 18, 2003
President George W. Bush
Preceded by Arthur Levitt
Succeeded by William H. Donaldson
Personal details
Born February 28, 1945 (1945-02-28)
Brooklyn, New York
Political party Republican
Alma mater Brooklyn College (B.A.)
St. John's University (J.D.)

Harvey Pitt (b. Brooklyn, New York, February 28, 1945) was the 26th chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), serving from 2001-2003. He led the SEC in restoring the U.S. securities markets to full operations after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, instituted a policy of "real time enforcement" to make the SEC's enforcement efforts more effective, and led the SEC in the adoption of dozens of rules to implement the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Contents

History

He helped restoring the markets to full operation after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, for which he was widely praised

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 Washington, DC law firm and was widely considered one of the preeminent experts in his field.

Pitt graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1961,[1] 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, aged 30.

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 columnist with Compliance Week, and a speaker and regular commentator in webcasts and television interviews on financial matters.

Criticism

Pitt became the target of criticism when the Enron scandal broke out on his watch. Democrats alleged that he was too close to the accounting industry [2] and that he subverted efforts to tighten regulation in the wake of the Enron scandal and other cases of corporate malfeasance. Pitt resigned after attempting to appoint a board member (William Hedgcock Webster - former FBI and CIA Director) from a company under SEC investigation to head a commission overseeing the accounting industry. The GAO later cleared Pitt. [3]

Pitt was involved in helping various short-sellers actively prevent banks from helping homeowners avoid foreclosure, so that the short-sellers could profit from the housing crash. [4][5][6]

Other

References

  1. ^ Wexler, Sanford. "The SEC's New Pit Bull: But Religious Right' Want Another Chairman". Traders Magazine. http://www.tradersmagazine.com/issues/20010731/959-1.html. Retrieved 2007-11-02. 
  2. ^ Dana Milbank, "SEC Chairman Pitt A Potential Liability To Administration; Bush Defends Regulator From Critics" Washington Post (July 11, 2002) p. A6,
  3. ^ GAO Report Expected to Clear SEC's Harvey Pitt, Posted by AccountingWEB in on 12/13/2002
  4. ^ McLean, Nocera, All the Devils are Here, 2010
  5. ^ Gregory Zuckerman, the Greatest Trade Ever
  6. ^ Hedge Funds Ask SEC to Look for Subprime Manipulation, By Jody Shenn, Bloomberg, June 2007
  7. ^ Virtual Museum and Archive of the SEC and Securities History
  8. ^ Bio

External links

Government offices
Preceded by
Arthur Levitt		 Securities and Exchange Commission Chair
2001 – 2003		 Succeeded by
William H. Donaldson