Bush Picks Glassman as Acting SEC Chairwoman

President Bush named Securities and Exchange Commission member Cynthia A. Glassman as acting SEC chairwoman Thursday.

SEC Chairman William H. Donaldson stepped down Thursday. The Senate has yet to approve Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach), Bush’s choice to replace Donaldson.

Glassman, a Republican, was sworn in as a commissioner in January 2002 and is serving a term that ends in June 2006.

“I’m honored that the president has designated me to be acting chair, and I look forward to the arrival of Chris Cox as permanent chair, pending his confirmation,” Glassman said.

Before joining the SEC, Glassman spent nearly 30 years as an economist, including 12 at the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. She spent five years in the risk management and regulatory practice at Ernst & Young.

Glassman, 58, has a doctorate in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Wellesley College.

Along with fellow Republican Commissioner Paul J. Atkins, Glassman often clashed with Donaldson, also a Republican, over initiatives, including a 2004 rule that mutual funds have an independent chairman, which the agency reaffirmed at a contentious meeting Wednesday.

Glassman and Atkins objected to the fund rule initially, saying the SEC had no evidence that investors were better off in funds with independent chairmen. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit sent the rule back to the SEC last week, saying it had failed to adequately consider costs and alternatives such as disclosure, which Atkins and Glassman preferred.

Donaldson championed the fund rule, adopted last year in a 3-2 vote with support from Commissioners Roel C. Campos and Harvey J. Goldschmid, two Democrats whose terms have expired. The same three voted Wednesday to submit a reply to the court before Donaldson’s departure. Atkins and Glassman dissented, arguing that the reply was rushed and done without public input, which they said would probably provoke a second legal challenge.

Goldschmid is expected to return to teaching at Columbia University Law School. Campos is seeking a second SEC term.