Hunt for SEC chief faces setbacks
Two leading candidates for the job of chairman at the US Securities & Exchange Commission are reported to have turned down the role.
Joseph Grundfest, a Stanford University law professor, and John Mack, former chief operating offices at investment bank Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, rejected the position for unknown reasons, according to the Financial Times.
The delays are a blow to the Bush administration, which has been searching for a replacement for former chairman Arthur Levitt since he announced his resignation in December last year. Bush was forced to make an interim appointment, when he made Laura Unger acting chairman.
Any permanent replacement for Levitt has to be ratified by the US senate and will face a number of difficult decisions surrounding uncertainty in the US economy.
- The SEC has turned down KPMG LLP’s request to the US watchdog to overturn its finding that the Big Five firm violated independence rules in 1995.The Big Five firm was seeking to reverse a ruling that it was wrong to produce an audit report of telecoms company Porta Systems Corp while it had a loan outstanding to an executive at the company.But the SEC said it saw no reason to reconsider the decision.Links
Washington appoints interim SEC chief
Arthur Levitt to resign from SEC