SEC Names Cartwright General Counsel

The Securities and Exchange Commission has hired Brian G. Cartwright, 58, as general counsel, succeeding Giovanni Prezioso, who recently announced he would be leaving the Commission to return to private practice. Cartwright, who will assume his new position on Jan. 23, is currently a partner with Latham & Watkins. He has been a lawyer since 1980, when he graduated from Harvard Law School, and was previously an astrophysicist at the University of California, Berkeley. He graduated from Yale University in 1967 with a Ph.D. in physics.

"I look forward to working with Chairman Cox to make sure investors are getting the complete, clear and comprehensible information they need to make prudent investment decisions whenever possible in a convenient and user-friendly form over the Internet," Cartwright said in a statement. "I'm also proud to be joining in the work of the SEC's energetic and dedicated Commissioners and staff in bringing to justice those who abuse investors' trust."