FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 99-166 David Becker Named General Counsel Washington, DC, December 7, 1999 -- Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt today named David Becker General Counsel. Mr. Becker, currently the Commission's Deputy General Counsel, will succeed Harvey Goldschmid, who will leave the Commission on January 1, 2000. Chairman Levitt said, "I am delighted to name David Becker as the Commission's General Counsel. This past year David has demonstrated keen judgment and insight in advising me and my fellow Commissioners on a range of complex and novel legal and regulatory matters. On behalf of the Commission I welcome David to this new role and know that the markets and investors will be well served." Mr. Becker said, "This is a uniquely exciting and challenging time in the history of our capital markets. At this juncture in the Commission's history, I am especially honored and excited to have the opportunity to serve the Commission and investors as General Counsel." As General Counsel, Mr. Becker will be the chief legal officer of the Commission. His responsibilities will include representing the Commission on all actions pending in appellate courts, advising the Chairman and Commissioners on all enforcement and rulemaking matters, supervising the Commission's responsibilities under the bankruptcy code, assisting the Commission with adjudicatory responsibilities when it sits as an appellate tribunal, representing the Commission in actions arising out of enforcement investigations and other actions when the Commission is a defendant, and counseling the Commissioners and staff on ethics issues. Mr. Becker, 52, became SEC Deputy General Counsel in October 1998. Since joining the Commission staff, he has counseled the Commission on a variety of litigation and enforcement matters and played a key role in regulatory initiatives such as the Staff Accounting Bulletin on materiality, auditor independence, corporate governance, and market structure. From 1982 until coming to the Commission, Mr. Becker was a partner at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in Washington, DC. His principal areas of practice were securities enforcement and litigation. He also has substantial experience in legal ethics matters. Before joining the firm, Mr. Becker was Assistant Deputy General Counsel at the Department of Health, Education & Welfare from 1977 to 1978. From 1973 to 1975, he served as a law clerk to the Hon. Harold Leventhal, U.S. Circuit Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and the Hon. Stanley Reed, Associate Justice (Retired) of the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Becker graduated with his B.A. from Columbia College in 1968. He received his J.D. from Columbia University in 1973, and was Editor-in-Chief of the Columbia Law Review. # # #