Khuzami, More Than Anyone Else, Epitomized the Legacy of SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro's Term in Office.

[ by Howard Haykin ]

Robert Khuzami announced on Wednesday his intention to leave the Securities and Exchange Commission. [ C-I Note:  Apparently, Mr. K is not on the short list of candidates to be the SEC Chairman.]

Khuzami. a former terrorism prosecutor who quite helped mold the SEC Enforcement Division around his steely demeanor, has been with the Agency for four years.  He joined an SEC staff that, in 2009, was demoralized and tentative.  They approached market surveillance in a laissez-faire manner that was maintained under Chairman Christopher Cox - at the behest of President George W. Bush.  SEC staffers also had been roundly humiliated and maligned for its highly publicized failures to detect or prevent massive long-running Ponzi schemes perpetrated by Bernie Madoff and Alan Stanford, 

Yet, Mr. Khuzami who sported an imposing presence and a piercing stare, and the full backing of SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro, reworked the SEC Enforcement staff into an aggressive team that challenged even the complex facets of Wall Street.  In recent years, Khuzami's division scored a record number of actions, many against banks at the center of the crisis.

• "They know we're out there, and we're smarter and can cover more ground," Mr. Khuzami reiterated in an email to his staff on Wednesday.

For further details, go to:  [ Dealbook, 1/9/13 ].