The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced that Joshua T. White will return to the agency to serve as chief economist and director of the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (DERA), effective Jan. 5.
DERA integrates financial economics and rigorous data analytics into the SEC’s core mission. White conducted cost-benefit analyses of SEC rulemaking between 2012 and 2018 and served in various DERA roles including financial economist, visiting academic scholar, and expert consultant.
“Josh is a well-respected researcher and a true champion of rigorous economic analysis in regulatory policy, and his expertise in financial regulation and cryptocurrency makes him a tremendous fit to lead our efforts to ensure that high-quality economic analysis continues to underpin SEC rulemaking,” SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said. “I am grateful that he is returning to the SEC as we restore our agency to a regulatory practice that includes reliably quantifying the potential costs and benefits of any rule.”
White has been serving in the Office of Economic and Risk Analysis at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board for the past 18 months as acting chief economist. He is on leave from his position as assistant professor of finance at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management.
“I want to thank Chairman Atkins for this opportunity to come back to the SEC and serve alongside the talented economists in DERA to provide the type of thorough and unbiased economic analysis that the Commission needs to inform its rulemaking,” White said. “Together we will utilize a wide range of research and perspectives to enhance robustness in our analyses and strengthen confidence in our markets.”