SEC names co-enforcement chief

In one of her first major appointments since becoming chairwoman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mary Jo White has recruited her former Debevoise & Plimpton colleague Andrew Ceresney to act as co-head of agency’s enforcement division.

Andrew Ceresney

It is unclear when Ceresney, a litigation partner whose practice focuses on white collar criminal and SEC investigations, among other areas, will join the agency. The SEC was not able to return a request for comment by press time. 

Upon being appointed Ceresney will co-chair the division of enforcement alongside George Canellos, who in February succeeded Robert Khuzami as the SEC’s top enforcement chief. Canellos is expected to eventually hand over complete control of the reins to Ceresney in the medium-term, according to a New York Times report citing people briefed on the matter. 

“I am excited to be charged with implementing Chairman White’s mandate of bold and unrelenting enforcement and thrilled to be teaming again with [Canellos], an immensely talented lawyer and close friend,” Ceresney said in a statement. 

The enforcement division is responsible for investigating possible violations of federal securities laws, including insider trading and fraud. It is the agency's largest unit, with more than 1,200 investigators, accountants, trial attorneys and other professionals, according to the SEC. 

Recently the division’s structure and operations was revamped to create five “specialized units” designed to keep the regulator up to speed with increasingly complicated market transactions and practices. 

For private equity firms, the key takeaway from the overhaul was the creation of an “Asset Management” unit, which hired specialist investigators to oversee the private funds market. Under the leadership of Bruce Karpati and Robert Kaplan (who has since joined Debevoise & Plimpton’s New York office), the team has taken closer looks into issues of valuation, complex structures and conflicts of interest related to private equity funds.