NYPD Advisor Eyed for SEC Chairman

The New York Police Department’s top legal advisor and the official who oversaw cleanup of the 1990 savings and loan fiasco are among the candidates President Bush is considering to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission.

White House officials have approached Stephen Hammerman, deputy commissioner for the NYPD, about possibly taking over as SEC chairman, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Wednesday.

Administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed their interest in Hammerman and others reported to be under White House consideration:

* T. Timothy Ryan Jr., a lawyer, Army veteran and former director of the Office of Thrift Supervision who oversaw the government’s multibillion-dollar bailout of the S&L; industry during administration of former President Bush.

* Peter Fisher, the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for domestic finance, who sits on the Air Transportation Stabilization Board, created by Congress to oversee the post-Sept. 11 airline-bailout loan program.

* Robert Glauber, former chairman of the NASD, then known as the National Assn. of Securities Dealers, a self-regulatory organization paid for by the securities industry.

Their candidacies were first reported by The Wall Street Journal. In confirming them, administration officials emphasized that they are among as many as a dozen being considered to replace Harvey L. Pitt.

Pitt submitted his resignation one month ago under pressure for various missteps in handling the past year’s accounting scandals that began with the bankruptcy filing of Enron Corp.

The officials said Bush could settle on a nominee as early as this month. Whoever he picks will have to be confirmed by the Senate after what promises to be careful scrutiny by lawmakers.

Hammerman is a former vice chairman at the Merrill Lynch & Co. investment-banking firm that did financial work for Enron. He also is a former director of the New York Stock Exchange, and, like Glauber, a former chairman of the NASD.

Ryan is a managing director for J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and a former director of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.