Mike Willis Named Associate Director in Division of Economic and Risk Analysis

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it has named Mike Willis as an Associate Director in the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (DERA). Mr. Willis will lead DERA’s newly created Office of Data Science and Innovation, which provides the Commission and its staff with expertise on data analytics, risk assessment, and structured disclosure. He will oversee the development of data analytics tools to enhance program data quality and information. Mr. Willis will coordinate with other offices and divisions to address structured machine-readable open data in rulemaking, analytics, dissemination and other areas. He will also oversee data ingestion and work with the SEC’s Chief Data Officer and others within the agency to develop a unified vision of data ingestion, analysis, visualization and use.

Most recently, Mr. Willis served as the Assistant Director of the Office of Structured Disclosure within DERA, where he worked on standardizing data in rulemaking and developing tools to enhance analytical insights.

“Mike is an experienced leader with deep expertise in data and data analytics,” said DERA Director and Chief Economist S.P. Kothari. “Mike’s passion for data, analytical insights, innovation, and collaborative teamwork will be extremely valuable to DERA and the entire Commission.”

Mr. Willis said, “I look forward to this exciting opportunity and working with the many stakeholders in the data and data analytics fields.”

Prior to joining the SEC, Mr. Willis retired as a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) where he was responsible for supervising data analytics engagements. He was an advisor on development of PwC’s analytical platforms using standardized data, rules and presentation abstractions to automate access, validation, analysis and presentation of data from disparate sources and various granularity levels from reports to transactions. Mr. Willis also served as the Founding Chairman of XBRL International. He has over 30 years of public company reporting and audit experience.

DERA provides impartial quantitative and qualitative economic analyses, accurate and reliable data, and insights from scientific research in support of the Commission’s mission, including the agency's rulemaking, enforcement, and examination functions.