SEC examinations chief to leave post at end of April

The head of the Securities and Exchange Commission's examination program will leave the agency at the end of the month, the SEC said Tuesday. Andrew Bowden, director of the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, is returning to the private sector, according to the agency. “Under his leadership, OCIE has effectively engaged with investors and the industry to promote compliance, worked to detect and prevent fraud, and advised the commission on policy issues and developing risks,” SEC Chairman Mary Jo White said in a statement. Mr. Bowden, 53, led the agency's initiative to examine private fund advisers who had to register with the agency for the first time under a mandate of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. He implemented a program to examine investment advisers who have been registered with the agency for more than three years but have never been inspected. That effort was expanded this year to include investment fund complexes that have not been reviewed. Mr. Bowden is credited with enhancing the agency's use of data to better target risky advisers for examination. "He successfully led OCIE's efforts to better leverage its limited resources to achieve greater impact, including strategic use of technology," said Karen Barr, president and CEO of the Investment Adviser Association. "OCIE's examination program for investment advisers was improved, both in terms of the number of targeted, risk-based examinations performed and in terms of education and guidance for newly registered advisers," she said. In a recent appearance at an Investment Company Institute conference, Mr. Bowden outlined an ongoing examination of payments from mutual funds to intermediaries, such as broker-dealers. The agency is trying to determine whether some of the money earmarked for investment-management services is instead being used to augment marketing payments. Mr. Bowden joined the SEC in November 2011 as head of the investment adviser and investment company examination program. He was promoted to deputy OCIE director in September 2012 and became director in June 2013. Prior to the SEC, he worked in the financial services industry and as a private lawyer. No successor was named in the SEC release Tuesday.