Director of L.A. Office Rosalind Tyson to Retire after 30 Years of SEC Service

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Rosalind Ramsey Tyson, Director of the SEC’s Los Angeles Regional Office, will retire at the end of March after 30 years of service with the agency.

Ms. Tyson has led the Los Angeles office since 2007, overseeing the enforcement and examination functions in the region covering Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, and Hawaii. The Los Angeles office has a staff of 170 people.

“Through her tireless work and steady leadership of the Los Angeles office, Roz has been a key contributor to both the Enforcement Division’s unmatched record of protecting investors and the development of a smarter, more effective examination program,” said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro.

SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami said, “Thirty years ago, Roz answered the call of public service and dedicated her career to protecting investors and maintaining the primacy of our capital markets. She served with distinction, and we will miss her greatly.”

Carlo di Florio, Director of the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, added, “Roz has provided tremendous leadership to the exam program, nationally and regionally, helping to oversee our self-assessment and improvement initiatives. Roz’s leadership, teamwork, and collaboration have helped the SEC exam program better prevent fraud, promote compliance, monitor risk, and inform policy.

Ms. Tyson said, “It has been a privilege throughout my career to serve alongside dedicated colleagues protecting American investors. I’m particularly grateful for the opportunity to participate in the substantial restructuring and refocusing of both the examination and enforcement programs during Chairman Schapiro’s tenure.”

Under Ms. Tyson’s leadership, the Los Angeles office has brought enforcement actions in a significant number of subprime and financial crisis-related cases:

• Countrywide – The SEC charged CEO Angelo Mozilo and two other executives with deliberately misleading investors about significant credit risks taken in efforts to build and maintain the company’s market share. Mozilo also was charged with insider trading. Mozilo agreed to a record $22.5 million penalty and permanent officer and director bar to settle the charges.
   
• IndyMac Bancorp – The SEC charged three executives with misleading investors about the mortgage lender’s deteriorating financial condition.
   
• New Century – The SEC charged three executives with misleading investors as the lender’s subprime mortgage business was collapsing. The executives settled the charges by paying more than $1.5 million and agreeing to officer and director bars.
   
• Brookstreet and brokers – The SEC charged the firm and its CEO with defrauding customers in its sales of risky mortgage-backed securities, and charged 10 brokers with making misrepresentations to investors.

The Los Angeles office also brought significant emergency actions at Ms. Tyson’s direction to freeze assets in alleged Ponzi schemes, including an international offering fraud at Private Equity Management Group, an offering fraud at Medical Capital Holdings, and a real estate investment fraud at Diversified Lending Group.

As member of the National Exam Program’s Executive Committee and co-chair of the Risk and Exam Process Steering Committee, Ms. Tyson was instrumental in shaping and implementing significant changes to make the examination program more effective and efficient. Ms. Tyson implemented similar-in-scope changes to streamline the enforcement management structure as well as the operational structure of the Los Angeles office.

Ms. Tyson, 63, joined the Los Angeles office as an enforcement staff attorney in 1982 following several years in private practice. She later became Branch Chief of the Branch of Full Disclosure, which reviewed initial public offering registrations of small business issuers. Ms. Tyson was named an Assistant Regional Director of the Los Angeles office in 1988, and became an Associate Regional Director in 1993.

Ms. Tyson graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Languages and Linguistics, the University of Hawaii, and Stanford Law School. She is a member of the California bar.