Arthur Levitt was the 25th Chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. First appointed by President Clinton in July 1993, the president reappointed Chairman Levitt to a second five-year term in May 1998. On September 9, 1999, he became the longest serving chairman of the commission. He left the commission on February 9, 2001.

Investor protection was Chairman Levitt's top priority. Throughout his tenure at the commission, Chairman Levitt has worked to educate, empower, and protect America's investors-now more than 50 million strong.

The New York Times in an editorial stated that, "Upon taking office in 1993, [Mr. Levitt] said his mission would be to protect small investors, even if that meant taking on the powerful accounting firms, investment banks and stock exchanges. The mission has been accomplished."

Early in his tenure, Chairman Levitt created the Office of Investor Education and Assistance and established a website (www.sec.gov), which allows the public free and easy access to corporate filings and investor education materials. He conducted more than 40 investor town meetings throughout the country to listen to the concerns of investors and to give them tips on safe and wise participation in the securities markets.

Other hallmarks of Chairman Levitt's tenure include, improving the quality of the financial reporting process, working to maintain the independence of auditors, saving investors billions of dollars by reducing spreads in the Nasdaq market, promoting the use of plain English, requiring that important information be released to all investors simultaneously, fighting Internet fraud, and cleaning up the municipal bond market.

Key policy successes include:

• strengthening the independence of auditors and the profession's self-regulatory functions;
• improving the quality of financial reporting, including strengthening the oversight role of corporate audit committees;
• leveling the information playing field by requiring companies to release important information to all investors at the same time;
• creating a regulatory framework that embraces new technology and promotes competition;
• reforming the municipal debt markets;
• requiring the use of plain English in mutual fund investment literature, public company communications with investors, and SEC communications with the public;
• sanctioning the Nasdaq market for price manipulation and mandated improved self governance;
• preserving the independence of the private sector standard setting process;
• commencing vigorous Internet fraud detection and prosecution;
• working closely with the criminal authorities to prosecute securities fraud; and
• improving broker sales and pay practices.

Chairman Levitt currently is a senior adviser to The Carlyle Group, a private global investment firm. He sits on the boards of Bloomberg L.P, Neuberger Berman, and CCBN, a company that helps public companies use the Internet to communicate with investors. He also serves as an advisory board member of M&T Bank Corporation.

Before joining the Commission, Mr. Levitt owned Roll Call, a newspaper that covers Capitol Hill. From 1989 to 1993, he served as the Chairman of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, and from 1978 to 1989 he was the Chairman of the American Stock Exchange. Prior to joining the Amex, Mr. Levitt worked for 16 years on Wall Street. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Williams College in 1952 before serving for two years in the Air Force.