WASHINGTON -- Christopher Cox, a pro-business Republican congressman from Newport Beach, Calif., was nominated by President Bush last week to become the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission following the resignation of William H. Donaldson.
Donaldson, 74, said he plans to step down June 30.
In nominating Cox to the SEC post, Bush called him "a champion of the free enterprise system in Congress. I've given Chris a clear mission: to continue to strengthen the public trust in our markets so the American economy can continue to grow and create jobs."
Observers said Cox, 52, a longtime ally of business groups, is likely to follow a more deregulatory agenda at the SEC than Donaldson pursued.
Cox is the author of the 1995 Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, which limits the ability of investors to sue companies over alleged securities fraud -- a law vetoed by President Clinton but overridden by the House and Senate. Observers said he was also instrumental in getting the Financial Accounting Standards Board to delay new rules that would eliminate more favorable treatment of some mergers, and he has supported efforts to repeal the estate tax, the capital gains tax on savings and investments and taxes on dividends.
During his two and a half years at the SEC, Donaldson has proposed laws that would give shareholders a greater voice in naming nominees for corporate boards as a check on managements and to force companies to disclose more details on executive compensation -- proposals that have been unpopular with some American corporations.
