奥巴马的SEC主席人选不合时宜

    更为糟糕的是，在最近任命的高官中，怀特不是唯一的一位欠缺、甚至根本没有市场经验的人。接替蒂姆•盖特纳担任财政部部长的人选雅各布•卢在华盛顿的职业生涯大部分时间精力都放在了预算问题上。他之前也从来没有担任过监管官员。怀特和卢可能会有所作为，但对于为推行华尔街改革而付出巨大努力的奥巴马而言，任命他们似乎是奇怪的选择。

    许多和我聊过的人都说，怀特缺乏监管经验不会是什么大问题。她的丈夫约翰•怀特此前曾担任SEC的资本市场部负责人。她本人也曾经担任纳斯达克（Nasdaq）董事。很多人想和她一起共过事。SEC前主席阿瑟•莱维特说：“她的关系网很庞大。”

    但问题的关键是专注点，怀特从来没有专注于监管。金融危机前，克里斯•考克斯执掌下的SEC并非败在缺乏执法上，而在于缺乏监督。夏皮罗的走马上任及其监管经验正是奥巴马政府对此做出的回应。因此，我们在当时很可能需要执法强人的情况下迎来了一个监管者。同样，怀特的提名是对夏皮罗缺点的反应。但愿怀特能够超越自己吧。（财富中文网）

    To make matters worse, White isn't the only recent appointee with little or no market experience. The pick to be Tim Geithner's replacement at the Treasury Department, Jacob Lew, has spent most of his career in Washington focused on budget issues. He too has never been a regulator before. Both White and Lew might work out great, but they seem like odd choices from Obama after fighting so hard for Wall Street reform.

    A number of people I talked to said White's lack of experience as a regulator won't be a problem. Her husband, John White, previously served as the head of SEC's capital market division. She was also a board member of Nasdaq. And lots of people want to work with her. "Her Rolodex is as broad as anyone I know," says Arthur Levitt, a former chairman of the SEC.

    But it's a question of focus, and White's focus has never been on regulation. The real failure of the SEC under Chris Cox in the run up to the financial crisis was not a lack of enforcement, it was a lack of oversight. Shapiro, and her experience as a regulator, was a reaction to that. So we got a regulator at a time when we probably needed an enforcer. And in the same way White is a reaction to the shortcomings of Schapiro. Hopefully, White will be able to rise above her own.