SEC Enforcement, Trading Markets Directors to Depart at Year End

Brett Redfearn, Director of the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets, will conclude his tenure by the end of the year after leading the Division for over three years, the SEC announced.  Redfearn played a leading and essential role in coordinating the public and private sector efforts to maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets in March and April of 2020 when markets faced unprecedented volatility and liquidity stresses, the SEC said in a release which listed Redfearn’s accomplishments. The SEC also announced the departure of Division of Enforcement Director Stephanie Avakian by the end of the year. Avakian, who began her career at the SEC, leaves the agency after leading the Enforcement Division over the last four years as Co-Director and then Director. During her tenure as Director, and previously as Co-Director alongside Steven Peikin, Avakian maintained the Division’s focus on protecting investors, addressing misconduct and market threats in a timely and effective manner, and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the more than 1400-person Division, which has resulted in thousands of high-quality cases. “Under her leadership, the Division of Enforcement recommended and the Commission brought more than 3,000 enforcement actions, obtained more than $17 billion in financial remedies, returned approximately $3.6 billion to harmed investors, and paid awards of approximately $595 million to whistleblowers,” the SEC said. In October, the head of the Corporate Finance Division William Hinman announced his departure.