Bush to fill 2 Democratic seats on SEC

President Bush intends to nominate two former Securities and Exchange Commission staff members to fill empty seats on the panel, the White House said Friday.

The five-seat body has been operating with just three commissioners, all Republicans, for several weeks amid worsening market turmoil.

Elisse Walter, former deputy director of the SEC’s corporation finance division, and Luis Aguilar, a former SEC lawyer, will be nominated for the vacant positions, the White House said in a statement. Both are Democrats.

By law, no more than three commissioners can be of the same political party as the president.

Walter is currently an executive vice president with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Aguilar is a partner at the law firm McKenna Long & Aldridge.

Walter and Aguilar, who must be confirmed by the Democratic-controlled Senate, were recommended to Bush by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada in November. The nominees would fill seats vacated by Annette L. Nazareth at the end of January and Roel C. Campos last fall.

A full commission would allow SEC Chairman Christopher Cox to tackle more contentious issues, such as giving shareholders increased access to the corporate proxy statement.

Late last year, the panel voted 3 to 1 along party lines to restrict shareholder proposals that sought to influence the composition of a corporate board.

That decision angered senior Democratic lawmakers, who had urged Cox to wait until the agency had a full complement of commissioners. At the time, Cox promised to revisit the issue, but experts question whether he will be able to reach consensus.