Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Elisse B. Walter today named Lona Nallengara as Acting Director of the Division of Corporation Finance. He will replace Meredith B. Cross when she leaves the SEC to return to the private sector at the end of the year.

Mr. Nallengara has served as Deputy Director for Legal and Regulatory Policy of the Division since March 2011 and has been responsible for overseeing the Division’s offices of Chief Counsel, Enforcement Liaison, International Corporate Finance, Mergers and Acquisitions and Small Business Policy.

Mr. Nallengara has led a series of complex rulemakings required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Division’s implementation of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act.

“Lona understands that our financial system is premised on investors getting the information they need to make smart decisions and on businesses having access to new capital,” said Chairman Walter. “Lona has extensive experience working within the agency and with companies seeking to raise capital. He appreciates the impact that our rules have not only on the lives of everyday investors, but also on the financial system as a whole.”

Mr. Nallengara said, “I am honored to have the opportunity to continue working with Chairman Walter and the other Commissioners as well as the exceptional staff of the Division of Corporation Finance to carry out the SEC’s important mission.”

The Division of Corporation Finance oversees the disclosures made to investors by more than 9,000 public issuers including registration statements for newly-offered securities, materials distributed in connection with business combination transactions, annual and quarterly filings and proxy materials sent to shareholders for annual meetings. The Division provides interpretive assistance to companies and investors with respect to their obligations under the federal securities laws and develops rulemaking recommendations for the Commission.

Mr. Nallengara joined the SEC from Shearman & Sterling LLP in New York, where he was a partner in the Capital Markets practice group and advised public companies and financial institutions in a wide range of capital raising activities and on corporate governance, public reporting and mergers and acquisitions matters. Mr. Nallengara earned his law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto and his undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada.