SEC division hires chief of operations

The Securities and Exchange Commission hired a 29-year-old former employee in Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s business intelligence unit as the first chief operating officer in the agency’s enforcement division, according to people familiar with the decision.

The new operating chief, Adam Storch, had worked since 2004 in a Goldman unit that reviewed contracts and transactions for signs of fraud.

His new job is to make the SEC’s enforcement division more efficient. Reached by phone at the SEC, he declined to comment.

Robert Khuzami, head of the enforcement division, announced the creation of the position in August as part of the unit’s biggest overhaul in three decades.

Khuzami is taking steps to add front-line investigators, speed inquiries and create specialized units after the agency was faulted for failures including missing Bernard Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme.

Storch holds degrees in accounting and finance from the State University of New York at Buffalo.