Courtesy of Larry Doyle.
In the category of things that make you go hmmmm, we read a late Friday evening announcement that former SEC chair – and Sense on Cents Hall of Shame 2009 inductee — Mary Schapiro is leaving her role at Promontory Financial after a mere 9 months.
Let’s navigate as DealB%k reports, Former Chief of SEC to Shift Consulting Job:
Mary L. Schapiro spent four years as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Her next act was far shorter.
Just nine months after joining the Promontory Financial Group, a consulting firm that straddles the worlds of Wall Street and Washington, Ms. Schapiro is planning to leave her full-time role there.
Ms. Schapiro, a managing director and chairwoman of the governance and markets practice at Promontory, will instead become the vice chairwoman of the firm’s advisory board.
In a statement, a Promontory spokesman attributed Ms. Schapiro’s decision to “her desire to devote more time to her outside activities.”
Not exactly the sort of statement typically utilized to heap praise upon a departing executive.
The spokesman, Christopher Winans, added that “Mary Schapiro is a public figure who is in high demand around the world.”
Ms. Schapiro said on Thursday that she had an array of university lectures, speaking engagements and corporate board work ahead of her. Her last day as a Promontory employee is Friday.
“Promontory is a great firm but I’ve learned over the last nine months that there are lots of things I’m interested in doing and this move frees me up to do them,” she said.
Even so, the departure capped a rare wrong turn through Washington’s revolving door. . . .
“There’s so much money to spin through the revolving door that it’s almost irresistible,” said Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist for Public Citizen whose report “A Matter of Trust” laid the groundwork for Mr. Obama’s executive order. “After appearing to have taken advantage of this, it now appears that Mary is resisting that very powerful temptation, and I applaud her for that.”
I would applaud Ms. Schapiro if she were to answer a whole host of questions regarding unsavory practices at FINRA and the real story as to why SEC whistleblower David Weber was fired prior to being vindicated and invited to return to the SEC.
Still, Ms. Schapiro will keep a foot in the private sector. She will continue to earn about $250,000 annually as a director at General Electric.
Oh, how nice.
Ms. Schapiro — who left Finra after 13 years with a payout of roughly $7 million that included pension and deferred compensation — will also collect compensation for serving on Promontory’s advisory board. She will join a who’s who of former regulators, including Alan S. Blinder, the former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, and Arthur Levitt, one of Ms. Schapiro’s predecessors at the S.E.C.
Yes indeed, if only we might give Mary a double dose of truth serum and learn a lot of what she knows about the incestuous activity at the intersection of Wall Street and Washington.
Navigate accordingly, Mary.
I thank the regular reader who brought this story to my attention.
