SEC Names Katharine E. Zoladz as Associate Regional Director in Los Angeles Office

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Katharine E. Zoladz has been named Associate Regional Director for enforcement in the Los Angeles Regional Office. Ms. Zoladz succeeds John Berry, who left the agency in July 2019. Ms. Zoladz will now oversee the Los Angeles office's enforcement efforts in Southern California, Arizona, Hawaii, and Nevada, along with fellow Associate Regional Director Alka Patel.

Ms. Zoladz began working at the SEC's Division of Enforcement as a staff attorney in the Los Angeles office in 2010 and joined the division’s Asset Management Unit in 2017. She was promoted to Assistant Regional Director in 2017.

During her career with the SEC, Ms. Zoladz has investigated or supervised significant enforcement matters involving a variety of securities law violations, including cases against:

• Bored at Work and its founder, Marcos Tamayo, a former airline baggage handler, who allegedly acted as an unregistered investment adviser in connection with more than $170 million of retirement assets for colleagues;
• Cherubim Interests, Inc., PDX Partners, Inc., and Victura Construction Group, Inc., in which the Commission suspended trading in the securities of three microcap issuers;
• Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO), in which the Commission charged fraud and mispricing violations in connection with what quickly became a $1 billion bond exchange traded fund; and
• Multiple investment advisers that agreed to return millions of dollars to retail investors and self-reported their failure to adequately disclose conflicts of interest related to the sale of higher-cost mutual fund share classes where lower-cost share classes were available, in connection with the Division of Enforcement's Share Class Selection Disclosure Initiative (SCSDI). 

"Kate has been instrumental in the success of the Los Angeles Regional Office. She is highly respected by her peers and will make an outstanding addition to our senior leadership team in Los Angeles," said Stephanie Avakian, Co-Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement.

"Kate is an accomplished and dedicated investigator and manager," said Steven Peikin, Co-Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement. "We are confident she will do an excellent job leading the Los Angeles enforcement staff."

Michele Wein Layne, Director of the Los Angeles Regional Office, added, "Kate is highly regarded by her peers for her excellent judgment, pragmatism, and collegiality. I am thrilled that Kate will be joining the senior team in Los Angeles."

Ms. Zoladz said, "I am grateful for this opportunity to lead such a talented group of people. I look forward to continuing the efforts of the Los Angeles office in enforcing the federal securities laws."

Prior to joining the SEC staff, Ms. Zoladz practiced securities and complex commercial litigation. Ms. Zoladz earned her bachelor's degree magna cum laude in international politics from Georgetown University in 1999, and her law degree summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2002.