Einhorn to Quit SEC Post, Join Discount Brokerage

Irving M. Einhorn told the Securities and Exchange Commission staff in Los Angeles on Wednesday that he is leaving his post as the regulator’s regional administrator to join a discount brokerage as a senior executive and partner.

After leaving the agency on May 12, he will become executive vice president and general counsel of Pacific Brokerage Services, a Los Angeles-based brokerage operation and member of the New York Stock Exchange.

Einhorn, 47, has spent 17 years with the SEC, beginning as a staff attorney in Chicago and working at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. Since March, 1984, he has run the Los Angeles regional office and has been widely credited with upgrading the image and effectiveness of the agency here.

“Working for the SEC is the only job I’ve had since I graduated from law school, but this is a super opportunity and I decided to take the plunge,” Einhorn said.

Pacific Brokerage has its headquarters in the same Wilshire Boulevard building that houses the SEC, and Einhorn, known for his wit, joked, “I just didn’t want to give up my parking spot.”

Actually, he will give up the parking slot to a new regional administrator. Einhorn said he has begun recruiting to fill the post and hopes that his successor will have a strong background in litigation and prosecution.

The SEC in Los Angeles is playing a central role in a new federal effort to crack down on stock fraud and insider trading on the West Coast.

Steven Wallace, president, chief executive and founder of Pacific Brokerage, said Einhorn will help him run the firm, which has offices in New York, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco and Boca Raton, Fla., in addition to Los Angeles.

“Getting Irv Einhorn is a major coup for us,” said Wallace, who first met Einhorn when Pacific Brokerage moved into the building on Wilshire.