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Head Of SEC To Step Down After Four Years

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

After four years, Wall Street's top regulator, Mary Schapiro, is stepping down. President Obama appointed her to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission in January 2009, in the middle of the financial crisis.

As NPR's John Ydstie reports, Schapiro has been credited with reviving a battered regulatory agency, but also criticized for not being tough enough on Wall Street.

JOHN YDSTIE, BYLINE: Mary Schapiro was the victim of some unfortunate timing. She took over the SEC just as the Bernie Madoff scandal was coming to light, a scandal that highlighted the sorry performance of SEC regulators. At the same time, critics were charging that the SEC's failure to regulate Wall Street had contributed to the financial crisis and the collapse of big Wall Street banks. John Coffee, a professor of law at Columbia University, says Schapiro faced a huge challenge.

JOHN COFFEE: No SEC chairman ever has had as difficult an assignment as Mary Schapiro has had for the last several years.

YDSTIE: In interview with NPR in May of 2011, Schapiro acknowledged the SEC's prior failings and lamented the continued unwillingness of Congress to fund the agency adequately.

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ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

John Ydstie has covered the economy, Wall Street, and the Federal Reserve at NPR for nearly three decades. Over the years, NPR has also employed Ydstie's reporting skills to cover major stories like the aftermath of Sept. 11, Hurricane Katrina, the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. He was a lead reporter in NPR's coverage of the global financial crisis and the Great Recession, as well as the network's coverage of President Trump's economic policies. Ydstie has also been a guest host on the NPR news programs Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. Ydstie stepped back from full-time reporting in late 2018, but plans to continue to contribute to NPR through part-time assignments and work on special projects.