WASHINGTON—The Securities and Exchange Commission said it had hired Renee Jones, a Boston College law professor, as its top staff regulator of public companies.
Ms. Jones will oversee a division of more than 400 lawyers and accountants that draft rules for companies raising capital and disclosing material news and events to shareholders. The division has a leading role in drafting a planned rule proposal that would require public companies to reveal more about the risks and impacts of climate change on their business.
Ms. Jones, 56 years old, will replace the division’s acting director, John Coates, also 56, who will take over as the agency’s general counsel, the SEC said in a news release. Ms. Jones, a graduate of Harvard Law School, has taught classes on securities regulation, corporate governance and financial regulation.
Ms. Jones wrote in a law review article in 2010 that while the financial crisis had damaged the SEC’s credibility, the regulator was likely to emerge “as a stronger and more capable regulator.”
Write to Dave Michaels at dave.michaels@wsj.com
