SEC Names S.P. Kothari as Chief Economist and Director of the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that S.P. Kothari has been named Chief Economist and Director of the agency’s Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (DERA).  Dr. Chyhe Becker, who has served as DERA’s Acting Director while the SEC completed its search, will continue to serve both as Deputy Director and Associate Director of Litigation Economics.

Mr. Kothari joins the SEC from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he is a professor of accounting and finance and recently ended a six-year term as Deputy Dean of MIT Sloan School of Management.

“S.P. brings with him wide-reaching insight from his decades spent as a leader in applying sophisticated research to the operation of our financial markets, including firsthand experience from his time in the private sector,” said SEC Chairman Jay Clayton.  “His leadership will guide DERA well in the research and analysis it provides in support of the Commission’s work on behalf of Main Street investors.  I also want to thank Chyhe for her exemplary leadership as Acting Director of the division over the last year.”

“I am delighted to welcome S.P. to DERA.  His warm and thoughtful leadership is an excellent fit for the division and will serve us well in our role in providing economic analysis to help the Commission fulfill its mission,” said Dr. Becker.

“I am honored to join the SEC’s team of dedicated economists, whose work is well-known and respected throughout the discipline,” said Mr. Kothari.  “I look forward to working with the staff and the Commission to explore the important economic issues affecting investors and our markets.”

Mr. Kothari has spent nearly two decades at MIT, both as a professor and as an administrator.  He has also been Co-Chair of the Board of Governors Asia School of Business, Kuala Lumpur, faculty director of the MIT-India Program, and editor of the academic publication Journal of Accounting & Economics.   In 2008, he served as global head of equity research for Barclays Global Investors, where he was responsible for research supporting the firm’s active equity strategies and for managing a team of approximately 50 PhDs based around the world.

Mr. Kothari earned his B.S in Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science and his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management.  He completed his PhD from the University of Iowa.