Gene Gohlke, Associate Director for Examinations, Retiring After 35 Years at SEC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2011-97

Washington, D.C., April 25, 2011 – The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that Gene Gohlke, an Associate Director for Examinations in the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, is retiring from public service at the end of April after more than 35 years at the SEC.

Dr. Gohlke has been a key architect of the examination program for investment advisers and mutual funds at a time when the number of firms and their assets under management increased dramatically. He has led the investment adviser/investment company examination program for the past 30 years.

“Gene’s career at the SEC has spanned five decades, and he will be sorely missed,” said Carlo di Florio, Director of the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations. “The Commission and the investment management industry have benefited enormously from his extensive knowledge of the securities laws, his deep understanding of the investment management exam program, and his keen insight into the investment management business.”

The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) conducts the national examination program for investment advisers/investment companies, broker-dealers, self-regulatory organizations, clearing agencies, transfer agents and rating agencies to fulfill its mission of promoting compliance, preventing fraud, monitoring risk, and informing SEC policy. Norm Champ, OCIE’s Deputy Director, will serve as Acting Associate Director for the National Investment Adviser/Investment Company Examination Program until Dr. Gohlke’s successor is named.

Dr. Gohlke joined the agency in 1975 as a staff accountant in the Division of Investment Management, which operated the investment adviser examination program prior to the creation of OCIE in 1995. Dr. Gohlke went on to hold the positions of Examination Program Coordinator, Chief Financial Analyst, and Assistant Director in the Division before becoming Associate Director for the examination program in 1986. He moved to an Associate Director position in OCIE when it assumed responsibility for the examination program.

Dr. Gohlke served under 10 SEC chairmen during his tenure at the agency. He served as Acting Director of the Division of Investment Management in 1990.

Dr. Gohlke said, “I have been privileged to have the opportunity to help shape the regulatory regime that fostered the evolution and growth of mutual funds during a period of momentous change for investors, investment management, and the financial markets.”

Dr. Gohlke was a key participant in a number of regulatory policy initiatives related to funds and investment advisers. Among his many accomplishments, Dr. Gohlke authored standard-setting guidance issued in 1979 that provided investor-oriented controls on mutual funds' use of instruments that create leverage. He helped craft rulemaking adopted in 2003 that requires investment advisers and investment companies to establish compliance programs and appoint chief compliance officers to administer those programs.

Prior to joining the SEC staff, Dr. Gohlke was an officer in the U.S. Army for two years and worked as a financial management consultant for the U.S. Agency for International Development for four years. Dr. Gohlke graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1968 with a Ph.D. in business administration. He also has a MBA degree from Wisconsin and is a certified public accountant (CPA).

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http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2011/2011-97.htm