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Regulation and Compliance > Federal Regulation

SIFMA Picks NYSE Exec as General Counsel

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What You Need to Know

  • Saima Ahmed most recently was director of NYSE Regulation and deputy head of the Surveillance & Investigations group.
  • She replaces Ira Hammerman, who announced in January that he'd retire by year-end.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association said Wednesday that it has hired New York Stock Exchange exec Saima Ahmed as executive vice president and general counsel.

Ahmed, who most recently served as director of NYSE Regulation and deputy head of the Surveillance & Investigations group, will oversee SIFMA’s legal, compliance and litigation matters. She will be located in SIFMA’s New York office and will start in October.

Ahmed replaces Ira Hammerman, who announced in January that he’d retire by year-end. Hammerman has been general counsel for SIFMA since 2004.

Ahmed will lead a team of internal lawyers and collaborate with the larger SIFMA staff on key regulatory initiatives as well as oversee relationships with key regulators and outside counsel.

“We are excited to have Saima join SIFMA as our new general counsel,” said Ken Bentsen, SIFMA’s president and CEO, in a statement. “Saima’s extensive experience as a litigator, regulator and manager will be a tremendous asset to SIFMA and our members, as well as a complement to our outstanding legal team. I also want to thank Ira Hammerman for his leadership and contributions over the past near two decades.”

Ahmed added in the statement that she’s “honored to join SIFMA and look[s] forward to working with the talented lawyers within the Office of the General Counsel and the entire SIFMA staff.”

Before joining the NYSE, Ahmed was a senior enforcement attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission and was appointed to the Justice Department as a special assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Previously she was an attorney at Sidley Austin LLP representing financial services clients as a litigator before federal and state courts and the DOJ, SEC, Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Ahmed received her bachelor’s degree in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University and her J.D. with honors from George Washington University Law School. She is admitted to the bar in New York.


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