Debevoise Duo to Reunite at the SEC.

[ by Howard Haykin ]

SEC Chairman Mary Jo White has her Director of Enforcement picked out and he's be arriving in the coming weeks, people familiar with the matter said.  The next SEC Enforcement Director lawyer prosecuted securities fraud cases at the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan in the late 1990s and early 2000s when Ms. White led that office;  he later followed her to Debevoise & Plimpton, where they defended Wall Street banks and other top companies and their executives in white-collar investigations. 

Andrew Ceresney and Mary Jo White ...  are as close a fit as one could imagine - teammates comfortable working with, and relying on, the other.  Already, Ceresney been spotted around SEC headquarters and is starting to schedule meetings with agency officials, said the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly. 

And it shows in the way the Debevoise Duo are sought after when it comes to handling some of the highest profile defense cases on Wall Street.  "Mary Jo and Andrew have been on the shortlist for every white-collar assignment that has come up," according to Michael Schachter of Willkie Farr & Gallagher, who previously worked with Ceresney.

Ceresney's Arrival Would Exacerbate SEC Conflicts.   While it's understandable that Ms. White would seek out her trusted Mr. Ceresney, his appointment would appear to only make worse the highly-publicized conflicts of interest that now exist at the SEC.  That's simply because Mr. Ceresney shares so many of the same relationships as Ms. White. 

Which prompts the question:  How effective can the SEC be when two highly ranked officials of the Agency must together recuse themselves from significant and undoubtedly highly controversial cases involving global banking institutions.  One possible solution might be that current Acting Enforcement Director George Canellos could stay on as a co-head for a limited time,sources said.

Keeping Up With the Boss.   The selection of Ceresney to fill her top enforcement post surprises few who know the pair.  Besides having worked together for so long, they share a similar approach to work.

• Ceresney often responds to emails late at night, associates said, much like White.
• "I suspect its one of the secrets of his success with Mary Jo - he's the only one who can keep up with her," says Cleary Gottlieb's Lewis Liman.
• Ceresney, like White, is a long-distance runner, having recently run a half-marathon.
• "Andrew was a tough, well-prepared prosecutor, but he was always a prosecutor of the highest integrity and honesty," said Robert Gottlieb, a lawyer who defended two trials that Ceresney prosecuted involving stock and bank fraud.
• At the U.S. Attorney's office, Ceresney worked on the securities and commodities fraud task force, in the major crimes unit, and as a deputy handling appeals, according to his online biography at Debevoise. While a prosecutor, he handled white-collar cases including stock and bank fraud, accounting fraud, money laundering, among others.
• In 2003 he won the conviction of American Banknote's CEO Morris Weissman, who was accused of fraudulently inflating the company's earnings by recognizing millions of dollars in revenue early and using those figures to raise $115 million through an IPO.
• In 1999, he prosecuted Andrew Crispo, a prominent New York art dealer, who was convicted of attempted extortion and obstruction of justice after he threatened to kidnap the young daughter of a legal advisor on his bankruptcy case.
• Chuck Ross, who defended a money laundering case involving a remitting house in upper Manhattan that Ceresney prosecuted described Ceresney as "incredibly professional," "super smart," and "very well prepared."

And Lewis Liman had this final compliment for Mr. Ceresney:  "You know people who are stars."
 

For further details, go to:   [ Reuters, 4/18/13 ].