SEC Announces a New Director of the Division of Corporation Finance; House Wants to Know Where the JOBS Act Rules Are

The New Director of Division of Corporation Finance

Yesterday the Securities and Exchange Commission announced the naming of Keith F. Higgins as director of the Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance.

Higgins was a partner in the Boston office of Ropes & Gray LLP, where he advised public companies regarding securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, compliance and corporate governance, and underwriters regarding initial and other public offerings.

Higgins will replace Lona Nallengara, who has served as acting director since Meredith Cross’ departure in December 2012. Nallengara will assume the role of the Commission’s chief of staff.

Pressure Continues to Implement the JOBS Act 

Also yesterday, the House Financial Services Committee announced that the House of Representatives passed of a bill by a vote of 416 to 6 that directs the Commission to finalize rules implementing the provisions of the JOBS Act related to “Regulation A+” by October 31, 2013.

Of course, the bill would still have to make its way through the Senate and be signed into law before the deadline were to take effect (for what it’s worth, govtrack.us currently gives the bill a 15% chance of being enacted).

The Washington Post has a nice short piece summing up some of the current regulatory tensions facing Mary Jo White, who is scheduled to testify before the Financial Services Committee for a second time this morning on the subject of the Commission’s 2014 budget request (the Commission is seeking a 27% budgetary increase for fiscal year 2014, which would be funded entirely out of fees collected by the Commission on securities transactions).