Ex-SEC Chief Levitt Signs a Book Deal

Arthur Levitt, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, signed a deal to write a book detailing the financial world for the individual investor, Knopf Publishing Group said Wednesday.

“This book will be a distillation of everything I learned during my eight years at the Securities and Exchange Commission and in my three decades on Wall Street,” Levitt said in a statement.

Terms were not disclosed.

During his record tenure at the SEC, Levitt pushed through a hotly debated rule requiring companies to disclose market-sensitive data to the public and Wall Street professionals at the same time.

Also during Levitt’s watch, the SEC implemented rules forcing companies to write documents to shareholders in “plain English”--devoid of technical jargon.

Levitt also provided a steady hand to investors as they rushed to their computers during the bull run of the 1990s to become players in the stock market. He often cautioned new investors to understand the risks of their investments.