President Obama yesterday nominated Lisa M. Fairfax, a professor at the George Washington University Law School, and Hester Peirce, a senior research fellow at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center and a critic of financial reform, to serve as members of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Washington Post reported today. Fairfax and Peirce would fill seats at the five-member SEC, which is chaired by Mary Jo White. One seat, left by departing Republican Daniel Gallagher, is currently vacant, and the term of one of the four current members, Democrat Luis A. Aguilar, expires this year. Fairfax, a corporate governance expert, has experience in securities industry enforcement from her service on the review council of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a private corporation that acts as a self-regulatory organization for the industry. In that role, she adjudicated appeals by brokerage firms and brokers accused of breaking the law. Peirce is a well-known critic of the government’s Wall Street bailout and the legislation that expanded regulatory requirements after the financial crisis.
