The SEC announced that Stephen Luparello, Director of the Division of Trading and Markets, will leave the agency by 1/1/17 - he was named director of the office in February 2014.  Upon his departure, Heather Seidel, Chief Counsel for the Division of Trading and Markets, will become the acting director.

During his tenure:

• The SEC adopted Regulation Systems Compliance and Integrity (Reg SCI), which established new controls to strengthen crucial technological systems, providing greater transparency, accountability and resilience. 
• The SEC worked to enhance operational transparency and regulatory oversight of alternate trading systems (ATSs) that trade stocks listed on a national securities exchange, including dark pools. 
• The SEC approved a plan to create a comprehensive database that allows regulators to track trading activity in the U.S. equity and options markets - Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT).

Prior to joining the SEC, Mr. Luparello was a partner at WilmerHale, in its Washington, D.C. office.  Before that, he spent 16 years at FINRA and its predecessor, the NASD.  As FINRA’s vice chairman, he was responsible for its enforcement, exam, market regulation, international and disclosure programs.

HEATHER SEIDEL.     Ms. Seidel began her securities law career at the SEC in 1996 in what was then the Division of Market Regulation and later moved to the Division of Investment Management.  She then spent several years in the private sector, starting in 1999 as an associate at the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering and in 2001 as an associate and vice president in the law division of Morgan Stanley.

She returned to the SEC in 2003 to the Division of Trading and Markets, serving as an Attorney Fellow, Senior Special Counsel and Assistant Director in the Office of Market Supervision.  In 2010 she became an Associate Director in the Office of Market Supervision, and in 2015 she was named as Chief Counsel for the Division.