[ by Howard Haykin ]

The SEC's Deputy Director for its Division of Enforcement was named Thursday as the Agency's Acting Director of Enforcement.  The appointment of George Canellos is effective 2/8/13. 

SEC Chairman Elisse Walter had this to say about the move:  "George’s proven intellectual abilities and creative approach to problem-solving have made him an extremely effective advocate for investors and make him ideally suited to serve as Acting Director.  As Deputy Director, he helped to oversee a division that brought record numbers of enforcement actions and some of the most complex cases in the agency’s history.”

Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami, who leaves the SEC on 2/8, said:  “George is highly respected for his intellect, prosecutorial instincts, and commitment to tough and fair enforcement of the federal securities laws.  His service will benefit both the SEC’s talented and hard-working staff and the investing public.”

Mr. Canellos, 48, has been the division’s ... Deputy Director since June 2012 and has been instrumental in developing the division’s Cooperation Program, in generating numerous programmatic, policy, and legislative initiatives, and in critical decisions on national priority enforcement actions.  From July 2009 to June 2012, Canellos had served as Director of the NY Regional Office, overseeing 400 enforcement attorneys, accountants, investigators, and compliance examiners. 

Needless to say, the NY office has responsibility for the largest concentration of SEC-registered financial institutions, including more than 4,000 investment banks, investment advisers, broker-dealers, mutual funds and hedge funds.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Canellos was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York for 9 years, beginning 1994.  There, he served in a number of positions, including Chief of the Major Crimes Unit, Senior Trial Counsel of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force, and Deputy Chief Appellate Attorney. 

After leaving the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2003, Mr. Canellos spent over 6 years as a litigation partner with Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP.  He began his legal career as a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.   Mr. Canellos is a graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Law.    [ SEC PR 13-17, 1/31/13]