Commissioner Kara M. Stein of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will deliver the 62nd annual Henry J. Miller Distinguished Lecture at Georgia State University College of Law at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 27. The event is invitation-only.
 
Stein was appointed by President Barack Obama to the SEC and was sworn in in 2013. She is the Commission’s liaison to the North American Securities Administrators Association and represents the Commission at meetings of the International Organization of Securities Commissions. She is a supporter of furthering diversity and inclusion initiatives at the SEC, sponsors the SEC’s LGBT and the Disability Interests Advisory Committees and is Chair of the SEC’s Diversity Council.
 
In the Miller Lecture, she will discuss how data will shape the future of regulation.
 
“We are very excited to have Commissioner Stein come back to speak at Georgia State Law,” said Anne Tucker, associate professor of law who focuses her scholarship on 401ks, mutual funds, fees and disclosures. “This is a unique opportunity for students, faculty and the larger community to hear directly from the one of only five commissioners charged with overseeing the entire securities market, which most of us use for retirement and college savings.
 
“Her discussion on how data will change regulation is an important and timely one, especially as the SEC investigates how consumers access and use mutual fund information. Big data also has the potential to transform securities compliance and enforcement.”
 
As a commissioner, Stein has advocated for strong investor protections and for initiatives to increase competition and foster capital formation. She has advocated for updating the Commission’s rules and practices for the “digital age,” including calling for the formation of a Digital Disclosure Task Force to aid in the Commission’s assessment of the nature, timing and delivery of information to a variety of investors and other market participants. Stein also has called for the formation of an Office of Data Strategy and a chief data officer to concentrate on the governance and use of information in a data-driven environment. In addition, she is an advocate of the timely completion of the consolidated audit trail, shortening of the settlement cycle for equities and fixed income, enhanced clearing agency standards and the further development of tools that aid the use of machine-readable disclosures.  
 
Before joining the Commission, Stein was senior policy advisor for securities and banking matters to U.S. Sen. Jack Reed. From 2009 to 2013, she was staff director of the Securities, Insurance, and Investment Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, where she played a fundamental role in drafting and negotiating significant provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Stein also was staff director of the Banking Committee’s Subcommittee on Housing and Transportation, as legal counsel to Sen. Jack Reed and a legislative assistant to U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd.