Mary Jo White

Mary Jo White served as SEC Chair from 2013 to 2017, bringing her background as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York to the role. She was known for prioritizing enforcement and for bringing high-profile insider trading cases during her tenure. White oversaw SEC investigations into high-frequency trading following Michael Lewis's "Flash Boys" controversy and tightened regulations on broker-dealers. She was regarded as one of the more enforcement-focused SEC chairs in recent history, bringing cases against Wall Street firms that might previously have gone unprosecuted. Before the SEC, as US Attorney, she prosecuted numerous high-profile cases including those connected to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 1998 US Embassy bombings in Africa. Her tenure at the SEC produced a record number of enforcement actions and significant expansions of the SEC's whistleblower program, which generated hundreds of millions of dollars in awards and tips on significant frauds. She also prioritized addressing weaknesses in equity market structure exposed by the 2010 Flash Crash, pursuing new rules on circuit breakers and market maker obligations. After the SEC, she returned to Debevoise & Plimpton as a senior partner advising clients on securities regulation and enforcement.