The Securities and Exchange Commission’s division of trading and markets added a familiar face when it named David Blass as chief counsel and associate director.
Blass, an SEC veteran who currently serves as the Commission’s associate general counsel for legal policy, begins his new role in September, the agency announced on Thursday. He will be replacing Jim Eastman.
As chief counsel for the division, Blass will provide legal and policy advice on the establishing of rules affecting broker-dealers and the operation of the securities markets. The office of chief counsel also issues interpretations regarding matters under the Securities Exchange Act.
Robert Cook, director of trading and markets for the SEC, said that Blass has demonstrated an ability to analyze complex legal matters and develop practical solutions, both at the agency and in private practice.
Blass was named associate general counsel last year, prior to which he was special counsel in the asset management group at Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
Blass told Traders Magazine the work he did with broker-dealers and investment advisors at Willkie Farr led him back to the SEC.
“I advised a number of clients in the lead-up to Dodd-Frank, and once Dodd-Frank was enacted, wanted to be in on the implementation phase,” Blass said.
As it happened, there was an opening in the office of general counsel. Blass took the position and had a number of areas reporting to him, all of which were focused on Dodd-Frank implementation. He said he will be staying until the fall in order to ease the transition of an incredibly busy office.
Previous to his interlude in private practice, Blass worked for the SEC from 2003 to 2008, eventually heading the agency’s office of investment adviser regulation in the division of investment management.
Blass also served as a branch chief and special counsel in the division of trading and markets, then known as the division of market regulation. That was in the office of chief counsel, which Blass will now be heading.
Before joining the SEC, Blass practiced securities and corporate law at Davis Polk & Wardwell both in the U.S. and in Europe.
Over the course of his career at the SEC, Blass has received a number of awards, including the agency’s law and policy award for his efforts in implementing financial reform legislation. He also received the chairman’s award for excellence for his work on the team that investigated last year’s flash crash.
