Bush Settles on SEC Chief

W A S H I N G T O N,  May 8 -- President Bush intends to nominate securitieslawyer Harvey L. Pitt, a general counsel of the Securities andExchange Commission in the 1970s, as chairman of the watchdogagency, an administration official said today.

There was no immediate indication of when the White House wouldannounce the nomination.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

Pitt's clients in his law practice have included major brokeragefirms and the New York Stock Exchange, which he would regulate asSEC chairman. He also represented inside trader Ivan Boesky duringthe Wall Street scandals of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

If he is confirmed by the Senate, Pitt would assume the job at atime of stock market turbulence and disappointment for manyinvestors who had become accustomed to steady gains during thelong-running bull market that ended last year.

Name in Circulation for Weeks

No lawmakers have raised objections to Pitt's anticipatednomination, which must be approved by the Senate Banking Committeebefore being voted on by the full Senate.

Marc Lackritz, president of the Securities Industry Association,Wall Street's biggest trade group, said of Pitt: "He has theexpertise and the experience, and that's going to be invaluable tothe SEC in its role helping investors."

Marc Beauchamp, executive director of the North AmericanSecurities Administrators Association, praised Pitt's "brilliantlegal mind" and said he "can clearly hit the ground running."

Pitt, 56, is a partner in Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver &Jacobson in Washington. His name had been circulating for weeks asa leading candidate for the SEC position, after several Wall Streetand corporate executives turned down the White House's offer of thejob.

Pitt also would have to grapple with complex market issuesarising from technological changes and the rival electronic marketsthat have challenged the dominance of the NYSE and Nasdaq in recentyears.

Levitt Left Job in February