Schapiro Taking SEC’s Reins Shows Regulator Dodged Cox Critics

By Alison Fitzgerald and Jesse Westbrook

Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Mary Schapiro has escaped the criticism that followed U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox as subprime mortgage securities brought down investment banks and Bernard Madoff was charged with a $50 billion fraud buffeting investors around the world.

The 53-year-old head of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, who was nominated yesterday by President-elect Barack Obama to succeed Cox, earned a reputation for political independence during almost three decades in public service, David Martin, co-head of the corporate and securities practice at Washington-based Covington & Burling, said in an interview.