President Barack Obama Nominates Lisa M. Fairfax to Securities Exchange Commission

Professor Lisa M. Fairfax has been nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).


Fairfax is currently the Leroy Sorenson Merrifield Research Professor of Law at George Washington University where she teaches courses in corporate and securities law. Fairfax currently serves as a member of the Investor Advisory Committee of the SEC.
Professor Fairfax has also served on the National Adjudicatory Council of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and FINRA’s NASDAQ Market Regulation Committee. She's also ben chair of both the Securities Regulation and Business Association Sections of the Association of American Law Schools.

She graduated with honors from Harvard College and Harvard Law School. Before entering academia, she practiced corporate and securities law with the law firm of Ropes & Gray in Boston and Washington.

The SEC was created by Congress in 1934 to regulate the federal securities market and oversee market participants, including securities exchanges, securities brokers and dealers, investment advisors, and mutual funds. The SEC’s mission is to protect investors; maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and facilitate capital formation.
The SEC is composed of five Commissioners who must be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. If confirmed, Professor Fairfax will be the third African American Commissioner in the SEC’s history.


Photo: www.sechistorical.org