This month, President-Elect Barack Obama nominated Mary Schapiro to serve as the next Chairman of the SEC. Schapiro currently serves as the CEO of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). She has previously served as Chairman and CEO of the NASD, Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and as an SEC Commissioner.

Schapiro faces the tough challenge of leading a demoralized agency that recently has been beset by criticism in the wake of the current financial crisis. She is widely viewed as a veteran Wall Street regulator who will provide strong leadership and restore the SEC’s luster.

Her experience with key players, and in shepherding the process of consolidating the NASD with the regulation/ enforcement functions of the NYSE, and her knowledge of the law will be important assets as Congress and the new administration take on the task of restructuring the financial regulatory regime.

NTEU is ready to work with her. “Ms. Schapiro and I have already been in contact, and we intend to meet shortly after she joins us at the SEC,” Chapter 293 President Greg Gilman recently remarked. “We will be discussing a number of issues that currently face SEC employees, and I am committed to working towards a constructive relationship with her.”