Courtesy of Pam Martens.
Mary Jo White, Testifying at Her Confirmation Hearing for SEC Chair on March 12, 2013; Her Husband, John W. White, Partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, Sits to Her Left
Despite all the corporate media headlines that Mary Jo White would sail through her confirmation vote before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, what actually happened stands in stark contrast to the prognostications. White was not approved for a full four-year term at the SEC. She was confirmed simply to finish out the remaining 14-month term of former SEC Chair Mary Schapiro’s term.
President Obama sent the following nomination language to the Senate: “Mary Jo White, of New York, to be a Member of the Securities and Exchange Commission for the remainder of the term expiring June 5, 2014, vice Mary L. Schapiro, resigned. Mary Jo White, of New York, to be a Member of the Securities and Exchange Commission for a term expiring June 5, 2019.”
But when the Senate Banking Committee met in Executive Session on Tuesday, March 19, 2013, there was no mention of voting on White for the four year term. The roll was called on a vote to confirm White for a term ending on June 5, 2014. On that vote, White received 21 Yeas (including Senator Elizabeth Warren who has styled herself a champion of the people) and one No vote from Senator Sherrod Brown.
This sleight of hand is highly relevant to those hoping to place regulators with teeth overseeing Wall Street. The conflicts of White, a law partner at one of Wall Street’s favorite go-to firms, Debevoise & Plimpton, and those of her husband, John White, also a partner at a Wall Street law firm, are legion. Between White and her husband, they represent every too-big-to-fail firm on Wall Street. (Under ethics laws for members of the Executive branch, the conflicts of interest of White’s spouse become her conflicts of interest. And he will remain in his job.)
White has promised to retire from Debevoise & Plimpton if confirmed. But did that promise hinge on securing five years at the SEC, not one year? The SEC post will mark the fourth turn that White has made through the revolving door of Debevoise & Plimpton and government work.
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