The Futures Industry Association issued the following statement in response to the announcement that Mary Schapiro will step down as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 14 and that President Obama will designate SEC Commissioner Elisse Walter as the agency's new chairman:
"FIA commends Chairman Schapiro for her many years of public service in Washington. As first a Commissioner and then the Chairman of the SEC, as the head of FINRA, and as a Commissioner and Chairman of the CFTC, she always demonstrated a willingness to encourage thoughtful debate on important policy issues and a commitment to balanced and pragmatic policies to promote market integrity and protect investors. As chairman of the SEC, she introduced new ways of thinking about markets and began a long-overdue reassessment of how regulators should approach the difficult task of overseeing and supervising modern electronic markets. We look forward to working with Elisse Walter and the SEC staff as the agency continues its work on market structure reforms and the implementation of Dodd Frank."