Mary S. Head Named Assistant Director in SEC Office of Investor Education and Advocacy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2008-4

Washington, D.C., Jan. 9, 2008 - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Mary S. Head has been named Assistant Director, Policy in the Office of Investor Education and Advocacy (OIEA). The appointment of Ms. Head, who previously served as counsel to SEC Commissioner Kathleen L. Casey, continues the agency's expansion of OIEA.

"I am extraordinarily pleased that Mary has agreed to join OIEA," said Kristin J. Kaepplein, Director of OIEA. "Mary's experience working on critical issues at a senior level, and her broad knowledge and understanding of the securities laws, will greatly assist OIEA in helping to ensure that the rulemaking agenda serves the needs of individual investors."

Commissioner Casey said, "Mary will be a great addition to the newly expanded OIEA. Her experience at the Commission and her years in private practice have given Mary insight into the regulatory process and a balanced perspective that will be invaluable in carrying out OIEA's mission."

Prior to becoming counsel to Commissioner Casey, Ms. Head served as counsel to former SEC Commissioners and Acting Chairmen Laura S. Unger and Cynthia A. Glassman. In this capacity, Ms. Head advised on a wide range of Commission policy and rulemaking initiatives, with particular focus on market regulation and investment management issues.

Ms. Head began her legal career in the Office of General Counsel at the National Association of Securities Dealers, now FINRA. She practiced securities law with Kelley Drye & Warren and later with Dechert LLP prior to joining the SEC in 2000. She is a graduate of Yale College and Catholic University Law School.

"I look forward to this new opportunity to serve individual investors," Ms. Head said. "In my new role, I will work to advance OIEA's mandate to advocate for policies designed to ensure that investors are treated fairly by market participants and have access to the investment opportunities they believe best meet their needs."

OIEA has contact with thousands of individual American investors each year through its investor assistance and education programs. As a result of the knowledge and experience gained through these programs, OIEA is well-suited to provide advice to the Commission about how to advance the interests of America's investors. OIEA also plays an important role in the Commission's key initiatives aimed at retail investors - including using interactive data to make disclosure more useful to investors, helping senior citizens to guard against securities fraud, and promoting the use of "plain English" investment disclosures.