[ by Howard Haykin ] The SEC announced on Thursday that a 30-year veteran of the Commission is retiring from public service at the end of August.  Robert Plaze, the Deputy Director of the Division of Investment Management, is retiring from public service at the end of August. During his time with the Investment Management Division, Mr. Plaze has been a key architect of the rules governing advisers, investment companies, and private fund advisers.  He joined the SEC in 1983 as an attorney in the Division of Investment Management, which oversees the multi-trillion dollar investment management industry, and went on to become a Special Counsel, Assistant Director, Associate Director for Regulatory Policy, and Deputy Director. Most recently, Mr. Plaze was responsible for rulemaking for money market mutual funds and for implementing a Dodd-Frank Act requirement for hedge fund and other private fund advisers to register with the SEC.  He also played a critical role in rulemaking to improve mutual fund governance practices - for example: (i) requiring funds to include fee tables in mutual fund prospectuses, (ii) standardizing the method of calculating mutual fund performance used in advertisements, (iii) requiring mutual funds and investment advisers to adopt compliance programs;  (iv) requiring investment advisers to deliver a plain-English brochure to clients;  and, (v) protecting pension funds and other investors from "pay to play" practices.

Mr. Plaze said, "It’s been an honor and privilege to work at the Commission.  When I began, I expected to stay a few years, but I found that the issues were so engaging and the work so important that I remained here for nearly three decades."

Mr. Plaze further received the SEC's Distinguished Service Award, and twice received the agency's Law and Policy Award.  He is a graduate of Georgetown University and Georgetown University Law Center.   [SEC PR 12-150, 8/2/12]