Annette Nazareth
Encyclopedia
Annette LaPorte Nazareth (born January 27, 1956) is an American
attorney who served as a Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from August 4, 2005 to January 31, 2008. She is currently a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell
working on complex regulatory matters and transactions in the firm's Washington, D.C. office.
. In 1978, Nazareth graduated from Brown University
with an A.B.
, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She went on to receive a Juris Doctor (J.D.)
from Columbia Law School
, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone
Scholar.
She is married to Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.
, former vice chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve and current President and CEO of TIAA-CREF
. They have two children.
. From 1997 to 1998, she was a Managing Director of Citigroup
's Salomon Smith Barney unit as deputy head of the capital markets legal group.
and served briefly as the Interim Director of the Division of Investment Management. She then served as SEC Director of the Division of Market Regulation from March 1999 to August 2005. As Director, she had primary responsibility for the supervision and regulation of the U.S. securities markets.
, was a partisan
appointee as an SEC Commissioner on August 4, 2005, by Republican
President George W. Bush
. (By statute
, no more than three SEC Commissioners may belong to the same political party.) As a Commissioner, she worked on numerous initiatives, including execution quality disclosure rules, implementation of equities decimal pricing, short sale reforms, implementation of a voluntary regime for consolidated supervision of broker-dealer holding companies and modernization of the national market system rules. Nazareth also served as the Commission’s representative on the Financial Stability Forum
from 1999 to 2008.
Following the collapse of Lehman Brothers
, the sale of Bear Stearns
and Merrill Lynch
to bank holding companies, and the conversion of Morgan Stanley
and Goldman Sachs
into bank holding companies, the CSE program was left without participating investment bank holding companies. As a result, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox in September 2008 announced a decision by the Commission to end the CSE program. The Commission's official press release stated:
"The last six months have made it abundantly clear that voluntary regulation does not work. When Congress passed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, it created a significant regulatory gap by failing to give to the SEC or any agency the authority to regulate large investment bank holding companies, like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, and Bear Stearns."
Cox took care not to attribute the demise of Bear Stearns to the CSE program, however. In a March 20, 2008, letter to the Chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, Cox stated, "As you will see, the conclusion to which these data point is that the fate of Bear Stearns was the result of a lack of confidence, not a lack of capital. When the tumult began last week, and at all times until its agreement to be acquired by JP Morgan Chase during the weekend, the firm had a capital cushion well above what is required to meet supervisory standards calculated using the Basel II standard."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
attorney who served as a Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from August 4, 2005 to January 31, 2008. She is currently a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell
Davis Polk & Wardwell
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is an international law firm. The firm employs more than 800 attorneys worldwide and is headquartered in New York City. The firm represents many of the world's largest companies and leading financial institutions, and is best known for its corporate and litigation...
working on complex regulatory matters and transactions in the firm's Washington, D.C. office.
Education and personal life
Born on January 27, 1956, in Providence, Rhode IslandProvidence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
. In 1978, Nazareth graduated from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
with an A.B.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She went on to receive a Juris Doctor (J.D.)
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, is one of the oldest and most prestigious law schools in the United States. A member of the Ivy League, Columbia Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Columbia University in New York City. It offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in...
, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone
Harlan Fiske Stone
Harlan Fiske Stone was an American lawyer and jurist. A native of New Hampshire, he served as the dean of Columbia Law School, his alma mater, in the early 20th century. As a member of the Republican Party, he was appointed as the 52nd Attorney General of the United States before becoming an...
Scholar.
She is married to Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.
Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.
Roger W. Ferguson, Jr. is an American economist, who was Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 1999 to 2006 and is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association - College Retirement Equities Fund...
, former vice chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve and current President and CEO of TIAA-CREF
TIAA-CREF
Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association – College Retirement Equities Fund is a Fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading retirement provider for people who work in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields...
. They have two children.
Early career
Following law school, Nazareth was an associate with the law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell in 1981. From 1986 to 1994, she served as Managing Director and General Counsel of Mabon Securities Corp. and its predecessor business, Mabon, Nugent & Co. From 1994 to 1997, Nazareth was a Senior Vice President and Senior Counsel of the fixed income division of Lehman BrothersLehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was a global financial services firm. Before declaring bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth largest investment bank in the USA , doing business in investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (former NYSE ticker...
. From 1997 to 1998, she was a Managing Director of Citigroup
Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate...
's Salomon Smith Barney unit as deputy head of the capital markets legal group.
Securities and Exchange Commission
In 1998, Nazareth joined the Securities and Exchange Commission as Senior Counsel to former SEC Chairman Arthur LevittArthur Levitt
Arthur Levitt, Jr. was the twenty-fifth and longest-serving Chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission from 1993 to 2001. Widely hailed as a champion of the individual investor, he has been criticized for not pushing for tougher accounting rules. Since May 2001 he has been...
and served briefly as the Interim Director of the Division of Investment Management. She then served as SEC Director of the Division of Market Regulation from March 1999 to August 2005. As Director, she had primary responsibility for the supervision and regulation of the U.S. securities markets.
SEC Commissioner
Nazareth, a DemocratDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, was a partisan
Partisan (political)
In politics, a partisan is a committed member of a political party. In multi-party systems, the term is widely understood to carry a negative connotation - referring to those who wholly support their party's policies and are perhaps even reluctant to acknowledge correctness on the part of their...
appointee as an SEC Commissioner on August 4, 2005, by Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. (By statute
Statute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...
, no more than three SEC Commissioners may belong to the same political party.) As a Commissioner, she worked on numerous initiatives, including execution quality disclosure rules, implementation of equities decimal pricing, short sale reforms, implementation of a voluntary regime for consolidated supervision of broker-dealer holding companies and modernization of the national market system rules. Nazareth also served as the Commission’s representative on the Financial Stability Forum
Financial Stability Forum
The Financial Stability Forum was a group consisting of major national financial authorities such as finance ministries, central bankers, and international financial bodies. The Forum was founded in 1999 to promote international financial stability...
from 1999 to 2008.
Consolidated Supervised Entity
According to the SEC, "Ms. Nazareth also championed the introduction of prudential regulatory principles to the Commission’s work under the Consolidated Supervised Entity program, a voluntary supervisory regime for the nation’s largest investment bank holding companies."Following the collapse of Lehman Brothers
Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on September 15, 2008. The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers remains the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S...
, the sale of Bear Stearns
Bear Stearns
The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. based in New York City, was a global investment bank and securities trading and brokerage, until its sale to JPMorgan Chase in 2008 during the global financial crisis and recession...
and Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch is the wealth management division of Bank of America. With over 15,000 financial advisors and $2.2 trillion in client assets it is the world's largest brokerage. Formerly known as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., prior to 2009 the firm was publicly owned and traded on the New York...
to bank holding companies, and the conversion of Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City serving a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. Morgan Stanley also operates in 36 countries around the world, with over 600 offices and a workforce of over 60,000....
and Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...
into bank holding companies, the CSE program was left without participating investment bank holding companies. As a result, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox in September 2008 announced a decision by the Commission to end the CSE program. The Commission's official press release stated:
"The last six months have made it abundantly clear that voluntary regulation does not work. When Congress passed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, it created a significant regulatory gap by failing to give to the SEC or any agency the authority to regulate large investment bank holding companies, like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, and Bear Stearns."
Cox took care not to attribute the demise of Bear Stearns to the CSE program, however. In a March 20, 2008, letter to the Chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, Cox stated, "As you will see, the conclusion to which these data point is that the fate of Bear Stearns was the result of a lack of confidence, not a lack of capital. When the tumult began last week, and at all times until its agreement to be acquired by JP Morgan Chase during the weekend, the firm had a capital cushion well above what is required to meet supervisory standards calculated using the Basel II standard."