Bush to Nominate Paredes to SEC

NEW YORK -- The Bush administration is expected to nominate a law professor from Washington University in St. Louis to fill a Republican Commissioner slot at the Securities and Exchange Commission, people briefed on the matter told The Wall Street Journal Tuesday.

The professor, Troy Paredes, is expected to fill the seat vacated by Paul Atkins, who announced Monday his intentions to leave the agency, the paper reported.

Before joining Washington University in 2001, Paredes worked at several law firms. Since becoming an academic, Paredes "has written a lot about the costs and benefits of SEC regulations,'' recalled Donald Langevoort, a Georgetown University securities law professor who has known him for years. One such article focused on whether the SEC requires so much disclosure that it no longer helps investors, the paper reported citing another acquaintance.

"He is skeptical about regulation," said Peter Wallison, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington D.C. conservative think tank. "That's the kind of regulator we should have," he said, according to the paper.

-- NYSSCPA.org News Staff

Posted on 5/6/08