Christopher Hetner, Senior Advisor to the Chairman for Cybersecurity Policy, to Leave the Agency

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Christopher R. Hetner, Senior Advisor to Chairman Jay Clayton for Cybersecurity Policy, plans to leave the agency. Mr. Hetner will remain in the Chairman's Office during the identification of and transition to his successor.    

Mr. Hetner previously served as Senior Advisor for Cybersecurity Policy for former Chair Mary Jo White and former Acting Chairman Michael Piwowar. Mr. Hetner helped to establish the position in 2016 to better coordinate cybersecurity policy efforts across federal financial regulators, enhance the SEC's ability to assess cyber-related market risks and improve the SEC's cybersecurity posture. In this role, Mr. Hetner has led efforts across SEC Divisions and Offices to manage cybersecurity priorities, strengthen cyber incident response planning and enhance threat intelligence capabilities. 

Mr. Hetner has served as SEC staff representative to the U.S. Treasury's Financial Banking Information Infrastructure Committee (FBIIC). In this capacity, Mr. Hetner provided leadership on enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal financial regulators through, among other things, expanding efforts to harmonize cybersecurity regulations, respond to cyber-attacks and enhance market-wide cyber threat assessments. Mr. Hetner has also served as SEC representative to the G-7 Cyber Expert Group.  

"The rapid evolution of technology and markets in the U.S. and globally continues to present both opportunities and challenges for regulators and market participants," said Chairman Jay Clayton. "During his time at the SEC, Chris has worked diligently to enhance the agency's cybersecurity capabilities and improve cybersecurity coordination among the financial regulatory community in the U.S. and abroad."   

Mr. Hetner said, "It has been an honor to work with so many professionals here at the SEC and across the U.S. government, industry and international regulatory community, who are all committed to protecting markets and investors. The implementation of fundamental and strategic improvements across the SEC will enhance its capabilities to protect market participants and the agency from cybersecurity threats." 

Prior to his current role as a Senior Advisor for Cybersecurity Policy, Mr. Hetner served as the Cybersecurity Leader for the Technology Control Program in the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE). Mr. Hetner played an important role in leading the implementation of cyber event monitoring capabilities for Regulation SCI entities, leading industry outreach on cybersecurity topics, enhancing OCIE's cybersecurity examination procedures, and establishing cyber risk assessments for the agency’s Broker Dealer Large Firm Monitoring Program. He also served as a liaison in OCIE to the Division of Enforcement. 

Prior to joining the SEC, Mr. Hetner spent 20 years in a variety of senior cybersecurity and technology risk management roles in the private sector. More recently, Mr. Hetner led Ernst and Young's Wealth and Asset Management Cybersecurity practice, served as Global Chief Information Security Officer at GE Capital and led global information security programs as Senior Vice President in Citigroup’s Institutional Client Group.  

Mr. Hetner holds industry-leading certifications including the CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional), NSA INFOSEC (National Security Agency Information Security) Assessment Certification, and CISM (Certified Information Security Manager). Mr. Hetner earned his M.S. in Information Assurance from Norwich University and his B.S in Security Management from The City University of New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice.