Paul A. Montoya Named Associate Regional Director in Chicago Office

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Paul A. Montoya has been named Associate Regional Director for Enforcement in the Chicago Regional Office.  Mr. Montoya succeeds Robert J. Burson, who retired from the agency in October 2019.

Mr. Montoya will now oversee the Chicago office’s enforcement efforts in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin along with fellow Associate Regional Director Kathryn A. Pyszka.

Since 2010, Mr. Montoya has served as an Assistant Regional Director in the Chicago office, where he supervises staff in the Asset Management Unit.  Prior to this, Mr. Montoya held supervisory positions in the Division of Enforcement as a Branch Chief (2000-2004) and an Assistant Regional Director (2005-2010).  Mr. Montoya joined the SEC in 1997 as an enforcement staff attorney. 

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

• Four Transamerica entities and two executives for misconduct involving faulty investment models, in which the entities were ordered to refund $97 million to misled retail investors
• Voya Financial Advisors Inc. for failures in cybersecurity policies and procedures surrounding a cyber-intrusion that compromised the personal information of thousands of customers, the first case in which the Commission charged violations of Regulation S-ID
• Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC, its President and CEO, and its Senior Portfolio Manager for alleged failures in managing risk in a mutual fund that incurred substantial losses
• Sixteen 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

“Paul is a widely respected lawyer who has been instrumental in the success of the Chicago office and the Enforcement Division over the last two decades,” said Stephanie Avakian, Co-Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. 

“We look forward to welcoming Paul to the senior management of the Enforcement Division,” said Steven Peikin, Co-Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “We are confident that his extensive experience and sound judgment will make him an excellent leader of Chicago’s enforcement program.”

Joel R. Levin, Director of the Chicago Regional Office, added, “In his 22 years at the SEC, Paul has been a tireless advocate for retail investors and an inspiring mentor to the attorneys he has supervised.  He is an effective leader who brings vision, ingenuity and resourcefulness to his work that will serve him well in his new role.”  

Mr. Montoya said, “I am grateful for this opportunity and excited to be working with the Chicago office’s highly talented and dedicated staff to pursue wrongdoers and protect investors.”

Prior to joining the SEC, Mr. Montoya worked as a litigation associate at a private law firm in New Mexico and served as law clerk to the Hon. Thomas A. Donnelly of the New Mexico Court of Appeals.  Mr. Montoya earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Texas Christian University in 1988 and his law degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 1994.