SEC Chairman Named as Ambassador to Netherlands

John Shad, who as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission has presided over the most sweeping fraud crackdown in Wall Street history, was nominated Friday by President Reagan to be ambassador to the Netherlands.

Shad, 63, a former vice chairman of E. F. Hutton & Co. who has been head of the SEC since 1981, would succeed L. Paul Bremer III as ambassador. He must be confirmed by the Senate.

It had been rumored since last fall that Shad, whose five-year term expired last June, would be named ambassador rather than serve another term at the SEC.

‘Hoped He’d Stay On’

White House spokesman Rusty Brashear confirmed that Shad’s retirement from the SEC had been under consideration for months, saying: “While he deserves a chance to do this, we also hoped he’d stay on. He was much admired” in the Administration.

Brashear said Reagan has not decided on a successor to Shad.

Shad was criticized early in his SEC tenure for not policing Wall Street vigorously enough, but he later oversaw the biggest crackdown ever against securities fraud.

The SEC charged investment banker Dennis Levine of Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. last May with using inside information to win $12.6 million in illegal profits.

Levine’s cooperation with the SEC and the U.S. attorney’s office led to a series of settlements and prosecutions against Wall Street executives, including a settlement of charges last Nov. 14 against stock speculator Ivan F. Boesky.