The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Andrew Bowden, Director of the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE), will leave the agency at the end of April to return to the private sector.

Mr. Bowden joined the SEC in November 2011, serving as OCIE’s National Associate for the Investment Adviser/Investment Company examination program.  He was named Deputy Director of OCIE in September 2012 and became the Director of OCIE in June 2013.

“Drew has served as a thoughtful, creative, and dedicated advocate for investors, OCIE, and the Commission,” said SEC Chair Mary Jo White. “Under his leadership, OCIE has effectively engaged with investors and the industry to promote compliance, worked to detect and prevent fraud, and advised the Commission on policy issues and developing risks.”

“I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Chair White, the Commission, and with such dedicated and talented colleagues in OCIE,” said Mr. Bowden.  “The work they do is extremely important.  Each day they come to work to protect investors and the integrity of our complex and adaptive capital markets.”

Mr. Bowden worked with OCIE leadership and staff on a number of initiatives and accomplishments during his tenure, including:

• Significant enhancements in OCIE’s ability to collect and analyze large data sets for the purpose of identifying examination candidates and conducting more targeted, data-reliant, and impactful examinations.
• Successful completion of the “Presence Exam” initiative, which provided education, examination, and guidance to newly registered investment advisers following the adoption of the Dodd-Frank Act.  The Presence Exam initiative is expanding to include the “Never-Before-Examined” initiatives for investment advisers and investment companies and initial examinations of newly registered municipal advisors.
• Exam initiatives in a variety of areas, including developments in the use of broker-dealer and investment adviser business models to serve retail investors; issues affecting older and retiring investors; the payment of fees by investment advisers and mutual funds to distribution entities; business continuity preparedness in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy; and risks to investors in fixed income and alternative mutual funds.
• The transfer of the Technology Controls Program into OCIE and the implementation of an OCIE strategy to conduct examinations to inform the Commission about industry-wide preparedness for cyber security events.
• Greater emphasis on sharing the information that OCIE collects with the Commission and the public.

Prior to joining the SEC, Mr. Bowden served in a variety of roles in the broker-dealer and asset management industries and in private legal practice.  He graduated from Loyola University in Maryland in 1983 and from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1987.