US regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has named Heather Seidel as associate director in its trading and markets division.
Seidel will work alongside David Shillman, who has held a similar position for the past seven years, to direct the division's office of market supervision, responsible for matters including oversight of the stock and option markets.
Seidel has been acting associate director in the division since June 2010. She had previously served as an assistant director since 2007 and as a senior special counsel from 2005 to 2007. Prior to that, she worked at the SEC from 1996 to 1999 in the divisions of market regulation (now trading and markets) and investment management. She has also worked for investment bank Morgan Stanley from 2001 to 2003, and law firm Wilmer, Hale and Dorr from 1999 to 2001.
In 2006, Seidel received the SEC's Jay Manning award, which is given annually to an employee in the division of trading markets who has demonstrated “an outstanding commitment to excellence in preserving fair and honest markets”.
“Heather brings a wealth of experience and insight to her new position,” said Robert Cook, director of the SEC's division of trading and markets. “Her leadership will be critical as we move forward with our agenda to implement the Dodd-Frank Act and continue our oversight of exchanges and alternative trading systems.”
The Dodd-Frank Act is a financial reform bill that prohibits deposit-holding banks from engaging in proprietary trading and investing more than 3% of their capital in hedge fund or private equity.