Christopher Conte, Fredric Firestone and Cheryl Scarboro Named Associate Directors of the SEC'S Division of Enforcement
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2006-176
Washington, D.C., Oct. 17, 2006 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the appointment of Christopher Conte, Fredric Firestone and Cheryl Scarboro as Associate Directors of the Division of Enforcement. The three will serve as senior officials in the Division and will assist in planning and directing the Commission’s investigations and other enforcement efforts.
Mr. Conte, Mr. Firestone and Ms. Scarboro have served as Assistant Directors in the Commission’s Division of Enforcement since 2000, 2003 and 2001, respectively. Earlier, each served as a branch chief in the Division, after joining the Commission as a staff attorney. Ms. Scarboro also served as counsel to former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt from 1996 to 1998.
Linda Chatman Thomsen, the SEC’s Director of Enforcement, said “We are very fortunate to have Chris, Rick and Cheryl take on these new roles and challenges. Each of them is an exceptional lawyer and an extremely skilled manager with an in-depth knowledge of the federal securities laws and SEC practice. We intend to take full advantage of their combined 37 years of experience at the Commission in order to protect investors.”
During his 14-year tenure at the Commission, Mr. Conte has overseen investigations in several major program areas. His work has contributed to significant Commission enforcement actions including option granting practices (former executives of Comverse Technologies, Inc.), abuses in connection with initial public offerings (J.P. Morgan Securities, Morgan Stanley Inc., and Robertson Stephens), public company accounting and disclosure (former executives of Waste Management, Inc.), e-mail retention and production (Morgan Stanley, Inc.), insider trading, fraud in the offer, sale, and promotion of the securities of micro-cap issuers, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, auditor independence and audit failures.
Prior to joining the Commission in 1992, Mr. Conte was a litigation associate with the firm of Steptoe & Johnson LLP in Washington, D.C. Mr. Conte, 45, earned his undergraduate degree from Brown University in 1983 and law degree from Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law in 1988.
In his nine years at the Commission, Mr. Firestone has also overseen investigations in major program areas. His work contributed to significant enforcement actions involving, among other things, financial fraud (WorldCom, Peregrine Systems, Inc.), insider trading, investment advisers fraud, market manipulation, yield burning (BT Alex Brown, Inc.), registered representative misconduct (SEC v. Shen, et al.) and violations of Regulation M, Rule 105.
Prior to joining the Commission in 1997, Mr. Firestone was a litigator in private practice in Washington, D.C., and Maryland. He previously served four years on active duty as a Judge Advocate in the United States Navy. Mr. Firestone, 46, received both his undergraduate degree and law degree from Washington University in St. Louis, in 1982 and 1986, respectively.
During her 14-year tenure at the Commission, Ms. Scarboro has overseen the investigation of a number of cases in several major program areas. These matters include a recent financial fraud action against Doral Financial Corporation, a major Puerto Rican bank holding company, and a financial fraud action against Kmart’s former chief executive officer and its former chief financial officer. Ms. Scarboro also oversaw the filing of insider trading charges against the former chief financial officer of Capital One Financial Corporation for trading in the company’s stock in advance of adverse Federal Reserve action.
Prior to joining the Commission in 1992, Ms. Scarboro was associated with the firm of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan in Washington, D.C. Ms. Scarboro, 42, earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 1986 and her law degree from Duke University’s School of Law in 1989.
http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2006-176.htm
