Commissioner Campos to Leave SEC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2007-163

Washington, D.C., August 9, 2007 - Commissioner Roel C. Campos of the Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that he intends to leave the Commission in a month's time and plans to return to the private sector. Currently serving his second term, Mr. Campos was first appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a Commissioner in August 2002.

Mr. Campos has served during one of the busiest and most productive periods in the history of the SEC. Mr. Campos developed a reputation as a fierce advocate for investors. He fought for the elimination of conflicts, enhanced issuer disclosure, improved corporate governance, and greater shareholder rights with respect to the election of directors. As a former prosecutor, Mr. Campos supported an aggressive SEC enforcement program to restore investor confidence in the wake of the infamous corporate scandals at Enron, WorldCom and other companies. Mr. Campos also represented the Commission with international regulators, serving as Vice Chair of the Technical Committee of the International Organization of Securities Commissions. He championed high standards and strong investor protections in jurisdictions around the world. Such high standards, he argued, attract capital and ultimately create strong markets.

As the first Hispanic Commissioner, Mr. Campos helped recruit talented minority employees to the SEC and helped establish a diversity initiative for the agency. He also created a new awareness and appreciation in both the SEC and on Wall Street of the importance and benefits of diversity in the workplace and board rooms.

"Commissioner Campos has worked tirelessly, both at home and abroad, for the protection of investors and the betterment of U.S. markets," said SEC Chairman Christopher Cox. "At a time when international collaboration among securities regulators has been key to our enforcement and investor protection missions, Roel Campos has led the way. As a result of his exceptional devotion to raising investor protection standards around the globe — in both developed and developing markets — he is respected and admired among national regulators and international securities regulatory organizations throughout the world. His leadership on diversity in the workplace has helped make the SEC one of the top three places to work in the entire federal government. And his initiatives for ordinary investors — including his work to provide better disclosure for workers with 401(k) plans — have helped keep America's markets the best in the world. I have appreciated his sound advice, his prosecutor's sense of judgment and discretion, and above all his friendship. The nation's investors have had a true friend in Roel Campos, and on a personal level, so have I."

Mr. Campos said, "I have been quite fortunate and privileged to have served the American investor at a crucial period in the history of U.S. markets. I am greatly honored to have worked closely with great public servants, Chairman Chris Cox and his predecessors, Bill Donaldson and Harvey Pitt, as well as my fellow Commissioners. I also am extremely grateful to have worked with the outstanding career professionals who comprise the SEC staff. I am very proud to have contributed to the historic accomplishments of the SEC during my tenure."

Mr. Campos received his B.S. in Engineering Management and Economics from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1971, his M.B.A. from the UCLA Graduate School of Business in 1972, and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1979.

http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2007/2007-163.htm