WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. federal prosecutor Robert Khuzami will take over as the Securities and Exchange Commission's director of enforcement, the SEC said on Thursday.
Khuzami, a federal prosecutor for 11 years, will have the job of restoring the reputation of the agency's enforcement division, battered over its failure to uncover Bernard Madoff's alleged $50 billion fraud despite tips and complaints.
Khuzami will replace Linda Thomsen, whose resignation was announced earlier in February.
"The staff and I will relentlessly pursue and bring to justice those whose misconduct infects our markets, corrodes investor confidence and has caused so much financial suffering," Khuzami said in a statement.
The SEC's new chairman, Mary Schapiro, has made enforcement one of her top priorities and has promised to reinvigorate the agency. She has taken steps aimed at cutting red tape thought to have impeded investigations.
Khuzami was most recently Deutsche Bank's
(Reporting by Rachelle Younglai; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
