A day after Mary Jo White shuffled the leadership of her enforcement unit, the Wall Street regulator announced on Tuesday that she hired a new lawyer to help run the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Anne K. Small, currently a special assistant to President Obama, will join the S.E.C. as its general counsel. In the role, her second at the agency, Ms. Small will oversee the writing of dozens of new rules.
Ms. Small will assume the role at a crucial period, one in which the agency has fallen far behind its rule-making responsibilities. Nearly three years after Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act, the overhaul of Wall Street regulation, the S.E.C. has failed to implement many of the changes.
“I’m delighted that Annie will be returning the agency at a time when our rule writing is in full swing and our enforcement program continues to pursue cases involving some of the most complex transactions,†Ms. White, who became chairwoman of the S.E.C. this month, said in a statement.
Ms. Small, the first woman to be named general counsel at the S.E.C., is Ms. White’s second significant hire.
On Monday, Ms. White announced that Andrew J. Ceresney, her longtime lieutenant as a defense lawyer at Debevoise & Plimpton, would become the new joint leader of the S.E.C.’s enforcement unit. In his first few months on the job, Mr. Ceresney is expected to share the role with George Canellos, who became the commission’s interim enforcement chief this year when Robert S. Khuzami left the agency.
Ms. Small comes to the S.E.C. from the White House counsel’s office, which she joined in 2011. A former white-collar defense lawyer at WilmerHale, Ms. Small was also once a senior S.E.C. official overseeing enforcement cases.
“It is an honor to return to the commission,†Ms. Small said in the statement.
She will succeed Geoffrey Aronow, who became general counsel in January. Mr. Aronow will now become a senior counsel to Ms. White.
