Donaldson Departs SEC With No Regrets

Former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William H. Donaldson exited office on June 30, but the controversy he created is still a looming issue.

The 74-year-old Wall Street veteran pushed through a controversial rule regarding independent chairman on mutual fund company boards, but the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says it will return to court on charges that the SEC acted too hastily. Despite the fight that lingers, Donaldson recently expressed confidence over the success of his tenure.

"I don't have any second thoughts about leaving," Donaldson said in a June 29 interview with Business Week. "We have done what Congress asked us to - make fines not just a cost of doing business but a deterrent. We've got to have a balance between rules and enforcement of the law, and corporate and financial America picking itself up with an ethic that will be far better than laws can ever [create]."

Donaldson went on to say that there are parts of the business world that don't get it. The market for securities and investments has to have rules.

"You can't just have a free-for-all without some sort of protection for investors," Donaldson said. "I'm the only commissioner who has built a business. You know, the idea that somehow I'm against capitalism or free markets or entrepreneurialism - they're what I've stood for my whole life."