Kara Stein

Kara Marlene Stein is an American attorney who served on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a position she held from August 2013 till January 2019.[1] In May 2013, President Barack Obama nominated her to serve as a Democratic member of the Commission to succeed Elisse Walter.[2] Stein was confirmed by the Senate and started at the SEC in August 2013.

Kara Stein
Member of the Securities and Exchange Commission
In office
August 9, 2013 – January 2, 2019
PresidentBarack Obama
Donald Trump
Preceded byElisse Walter
Succeeded byAllison Lee
Personal details
Political partyDemocratic
EducationYale University (BA, JD)

During her tenure on the SEC, Stein was often described as the most progressive member of the body,[3] and has been described as an ally of Senator Elizabeth Warren.[4] In 2021, she was mentioned as a potential candidate to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).[5]

Education and career

Stein graduated from Yale University in 1986 and Yale Law School in 1991.[6] Following her education, Stein was an associate at the law firm Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (WilmerHale).[1]

Before being appointed to the SEC, Stein was an aide to Democratic Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island and helped write the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Though soft-spoken in public, Stein has taken aggressive stances behind the scenes in pushing for strict investor protection rules at SEC.[7]

Stein sparked a debate at the SEC and in Congress over the routine issuance of waivers to companies that had previously been sanctioned by prosecutors for financial misconduct.

In April 2014, Stein published a lengthy dissent to an SEC corporate waiver granted to The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS), which had previously been charged by the Justice Department with criminal violations.[8] Stein argued that the SEC waiver for RBS risked establishing a policy "that some firms are just too big to bar."

The dissent won applause from Democratic Senators Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren.[9][10] Again in an April 2015 speech, Warren criticized the SEC's policy of granting "Well-Known Seasoned Issuer" waivers, saying the agency misses an opportunity to deter bad behavior when it rubber-stamps these waivers.[11]

But Republicans at the SEC have bristled at the use of waivers as another enforcement tool.[12] Stein has subsequently dissented to SEC waivers granted to BNP Paribas, Citigroup, and Oppenheimer & Co.[13]

Post-SEC career

Since departing the SEC, Stein has served on the faculty of several law schools, including serving as a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School,[14] Lecturer-in-Law at University of Pennsylvania Law School,[15] and Director of the AI & Capital Markets Initiative for the Center for Innovation at UC Hastings College of Law.[16] Stein serves on the ten-member Financial Stability Task Force coordinated by the Brookings Institution and University of Chicago Booth School of Business.[17] She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Investors Exchange.[18]

References
  1. "SEC biography: Commissioner Kara M. Stein". www.sec.gov. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  2. Protess, Ben (May 24, 2013). "S.E. C. Changes Continue as Obama Names 2 Senate Aides for Posts". The New York Times. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  3. "What To Expect From A Biden-Picked SEC Chair". InsuranceNewsNet. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  4. Temple-West, Patrick. "Liberals push Kara Stein to lead SEC as Warren lends tacit backing". POLITICO. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  5. "Three new candidates emerge to head OCC". American Banker. March 25, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  6. Bass, Carole. "Kara Stein '86, '91JD: bank shot". www.yalealumnimagazine.com. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  7. Michaels, Dave (July 21, 2014). "Ghosts of 2008 Haunt SEC's 'Outsider' Pushing Tough Rules". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  8. "Dissenting Statement in the Matter of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, plc, Regarding Order Under Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933, Granting a Waiver From Being an Ineligible Issuer". www.sec.gov. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  9. "Sen. Brown Urges SEC Chair to Stop Granting Waivers From Securities Law to Banks With Civil or Criminal Settlements or Enforcement Actions". www.brown.senate.gov. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  10. Temple-West, Patrick (May 18, 2015). "Elizabeth Warren's ally on the inside". POLITICO. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  11. Warren, Elizabeth. "The Unfinished Business of Financial Reform" (PDF). Warren.senate.gov. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  12. Gallagher, Daniel. "Statement on WKSI waivers". www.sec.gov. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  13. Stein, Kara. "Dissenting Statement In the Matter of Oppenheimer & Co., Inc". www.sec.gov. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  14. "Harvard University Faculty Directory".
  15. "Penn Law School Faculty Directory".
  16. "UC Hastings Center for Innovation Staff Bios".
  17. "Brookings Institution: Announcing New Financial Stability Task Force".
  18. "Investors Exchange Press Announcement".
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