Schapiro Picked for Beleaguered SEC

The Securities and Exchange Commission, which has taken a beating in the past week over the Madoff scandal, is getting its first female leader. Mary Schapiro, a veteran financial regulator, is currently head of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, known as Wall Street’s self-regulator—some might also question that agency’s effectiveness in the wake of the financial meltdown—and has attracted the support of both Democrats and Republicans. President Reagan appointed her commissioner at the SEC, and Clinton made her head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Her appointment by Obama, expected to be announced at a press conference Thursday, will make it easier for the incoming administration to merge the SEC and CFTC—a move advocated by critics of the organizations’ lack of oversight in the runup to the financial crisis.