SEC Enforcement Co-Director Steven Peikin will leave the SEC on August 14, 2020.
Mr. Peikin's departure follows a three-year-long tenure in a leadership role that he shared with Enforcement Co-Director Stephanie Avakian. Ms. Avakian will remain in her position.
The SEC reported that under Mr. Peikin, the Enforcement Division obtained $13.5 billion in disgorgement and penalties while also returning $3.1 billion to harmed investors. Most recently, Mr. Peikin, along with Ms. Avakian, led efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic through the establishment of the Coronavirus Steering Committee.
Before joining the SEC, Mr. Peikin was, among other things, Managing Partner of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP's Criminal Defense and Investigations Group, and served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, where he was Chief of the Office's Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force.
Commentary
Mr. Peikin's departure is a big loss for the SEC. As Co-Director, he helped lead the Enforcement Division's refocus on protecting retail investors and is well respected by the SEC staff. Mr. Peikin and Ms. Avakian worked extremely well together and made the unusual arrangement of having co-directors lead the division for more than three years a success. While Mr. Peikin's departure is significant news, with Ms. Avakian continuing as Director, it likely will not result in a shift in the SEC enforcement program's priorities or its approach to ongoing investigations.
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