News Digest; COMMISSION ANNOUNCEMENTS - SEC Announces Creation of Investor Advisory Committee



Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro today announced the formation of an Investor Advisory Committee to give investors a greater voice in the Commission's work. SEC Commissioner Luis A. Aguilar will serve as the Commission's primary sponsor of the Committee.

"Through this well-respected and diverse group, we are reaching out to investors in a new and significant way," said Chairman Schapiro. "I look forward to hearing their views on new products, trading strategies, fee structures, and the effectiveness of disclosure, among other issues."

Commissioner Aguilar added, "Investors need a greater voice at the Commission. The Commission's traditional role as the investor's advocate, as well as our deliberations, will be enhanced by the range of views the Advisory Committee will provide."

The Investor Advisory Committee's charter provides for a broad scope of interest, including:

1. Advising the Commission on matters of concern to investors in the securities markets;

2. Providing the Commission with investors' perspectives on current, non-enforcement, regulatory issues; and

3. Serving as a source of information and recommendations to the Commission regarding the Commission's regulatory programs from the point of view of investors.

The Advisory Committee will be co-chaired by Richard (Mac) Hisey, President of AARP Financial Incorporated and AARP Funds, and Hye-Won Choi, Senior Vice President and Head of Corporate Governance for TIAA-CREF. Fred Josephs, President of the North American Securities Administrators Association and Securities Administrator for the State of Colorado, will be an ex officio participant.

The Advisory Committee's other members will include:

* Mark Anson, President and Executive Director of Investment Services, Nuveen Investments


* Mercer Bullard, Founder and President of Fund Democracy, Inc. and Associate Professor of Law, University of Mississippi Law School

* Jeff Brown, Senior Vice President, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, Charles Schwab and Co., Inc.

* Stephen Davis, Senior Fellow and Project Director, Yale University School for Management's Millstein Center for Corporate Governance, and nonexecutive chair of Hermes Equity Ownership Service

* Abe Friedman, Global Head of Corporate Governance and Proxy Voting and Managing Director, Barclays Global Investors

* Mellody Hobson, President of Ariel Capital Management

* Dennis A. Johnson, Managing Director, Shamrock Capital Advisors, Inc.

* Adam Kanzer, Managing Director and General Counsel, Domini Social Investments LLC

* Mark Latham, Director of Proxy Democracy, a nonprofit organization helping individual investors

* Barbara Roper, Director of Investor Protection, Consumer Federation of America

* Dallas Salisbury, President and CEO, Employee Benefit Research Institute

* Kurt Schacht, Managing Director, CFA Institute

* Damon Silvers, Associate General Counsel, AFL-CIO

* Kurt Stocker, Chairman of the Individual Investors Advisory Board of the NYSE

* Ann Yerger, Executive Director, Council of Institutional Investors

The Advisory Committee will begin its work in the next few weeks, after the SEC staff files the Committee's charter with Congress. (Press Rel. 2009-126)