US president George Bush has named Wall Street veteran William Donaldson as the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission Seventy one-year-old Donaldson will succeed Harvey Pitt, who resigned on 1 November following his controversial appointment of William Webster as the head of a new accounting oversight board. Webster stepped down from his post less than one week later President Bush said Donaldson, the founder of Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette, which CSFB bought two years ago, would be a "strong leader with a clear mission". He was also chairman and chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange from 1990 to 1995
"As a founder of a leading investment banking firm, he understands the capital markets and he understands financial institutions," Bush said. He said his choice would lead the government crackdown on corporate wrongdoing and that the government would continue to prosecute corporate criminals "I am firmly committed to doing everything that I can do to restore the confidence of investors in the US corporate financial industry," Donaldson said. He declined to comment on specifics until his nomination is confirmed by the Senate ///www.fxcentre.com