L.A. Attorney Said to Be Top Choice for SEC Post

Los Angeles attorney Brian Cartwright is the top candidate to become general counsel of the Securities and Exchange Commission, people familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

Separately, Meyer Eisenberg, one of the SEC’s top authorities on mutual fund law, said he would retire from the agency in January.

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox plans to name Cartwright, a partner at Latham & Watkins, as the agency’s chief legal officer, according to sources who requested anonymity because the appointment hasn’t yet been announced.

Cartwright, a 58-year-old former physicist, leads Latham’s public-company practice in the U.S. He didn’t reply to a call and e-mail seeking comment.

Cartwright would replace Giovanni Prezioso, 47, who said last week that he would depart.

Before practicing law, Cartwright was a research physicist at UC Berkeley from 1973 to 1977.

The SEC’s legal staff also is losing Eisenberg, 73, who has been deputy general counsel since 1998 and has been a key player in developing regulations for the mutual fund industry. Since April he has been acting director of the agency’s investment management unit, which oversees the fund industry.

Eisenberg’s departure means Cox must fill the investment management post and two other senior positions: head of market regulation and chief accountant. He is also seeking a permanent head for the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.