Close Close
Sign In
Newsletters
Popular Financial Topics Discover relevant content from across the suite of ALM legal publications From the Industry More content from ThinkAdvisor and select sponsors Investment Advisor Issue Gallery Read digital editions of Investment Advisor Magazine Tax Facts Get clear, current, and reliable answers to pressing tax questions
Luminaries Awards
Podcast Center Video Center Webcasts Resource Center Events
About ThinkAdvisor Contact Us Advertise With Us Asset & Logo Licensing Sitemap Terms of Service Privacy Policy Copyright © 2024 ALM Global, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
ThinkAdvisor
Former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt.

Regulation and Compliance > Federal Regulation > SEC

Harvey Pitt, Former SEC Chairman, Dies at 78

By Melanie Waddell

X
Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

Harvey Pitt, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, has died. He was 78, Reuters reported, citing a statement from the SEC Historical Society.

Pitt, who was most recently president and CEO of Kalorama Partners, was the 26th chairman of the SEC.

“Harvey loved this agency, dating back to his time right out of law school serving as a staff attorney in the Office of General Counsel (OGC),” SEC Chairman Gary Gensler and the other commissioners said Wednesday in a statement.

“He continued to serve the Commission for a decade, advising former Commissioner Francis M. Wheat, taking on important roles in OGC and the Division of Market Regulation, and serving in the front office of former Chairman Ray Garrett, Jr.,” the commissioners said. “After only seven years at the SEC, Harvey became the youngest General Counsel in the SEC’s history. It was one of his greatest dreams to come back later in his career to chair the agency.”

While chairman, Pitt oversaw the SEC’s response to the Sept. 11 attacks and led rulemaking efforts in response to the corporate accounting crises of the 1990s, the commissioners explained. “Even in the last year, he has made himself available to offer advice and continued to submit comment letters on our rulemaking proposals. Our hearts go out to Saree and Harvey’s family.”

Pitt reiterated his long-held view in a recent interview with ThinkAdvisor that the SEC “is NOT able adequately to examine” advisors.

“The growth in the industry simply makes it impossible for the SEC to keep up,” Pitt said. “Its use of specific subject matters for review is creative, but ultimately unavailing. There is a need for a private sector regulatory body. The SEC could facilitate this development by encouraging RIAs voluntarily to join a private sector regulatory body.”

Pitt also explained in another interview why the SEC’s proposed rule on private funds amounts to an “overreach” by the agency, saying the proposed rule “prohibits certain relationships” that traditionally are handled under the securities laws by disclosure. “This proposal will be reviewed by the courts, there’s no doubt,” Pitt said.

Melanie Waddell

@Think_MelanieW

NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.