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Irving Pollack |
Irving Pollack, who has dedicated six decades to securities law as a regulator, private practitioner and international consultant, is Compliance Reporter‘s 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Pollack served as a commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission under Richard Nixon during a time of transition amidst the Watergate scandal. After Chairman G. Bradford Cook was forced to resign due to conflicting testimony he gave related to Watergate, Pollack increased the Division of Enforcement’s visibility and helped restore the SEC’s reputation.
Pollack joined the SEC in 1946 at his brother’s suggestion. In an interview with the SEC’s Historical Society in 2002, Pollack said he offered little else than a degree from Brooklyn Law School and a willingness to work on criminal cases. “Apparently the others in the office...felt that criminal cases were not really the kinds of things they wanted to work on,” he had said. “So it was just that odd circumstance.”
In the 1950s, the Southern District of New York began criminally prosecuting securities cases at Pollack’s urging. In 1972, he became the SEC’s first director of enforcement, and had also been its director of market regulation. Former fellow Commissioner Roberta Karmel wrote in a 1998 essay that when elevated to commissioner, Pollack helped the enforcement division dominate the SEC. After Nixon tampered with the SEC’s investigation into illegal contributions being routed to Nixon, Pollack was protective of the division and suspicious of business interests, Karmel wrote. The result was a string of successful SEC cases.
Since leaving the SEC in 1980, Pollack has continued to consult for regulators, including the International Organization of Securities Commissions, and for investment banks. In 1995, he served on the Rudman Committee, whose recommendations resulted in the creation of the NASD‘s regulatory arm. Pollack is now of counsel at law firm Fulbright & Jaworsky in Washington, D.C., and a director of ML Life Insurance Co. of New York. Since 1981, the SEC has each year given the Irving M. Pollack Award to a staff member for dedication to public service and the SEC.
4th Annual Achievement in Regulatory Compliance Awards Nominees
Compliance Reporter is pleased to announce the nominees for the 4th Annual ARC Awards. The nominees are all individuals who are seen as standing out for a significant contribution to financial services and accounting compliance and regulation. CR invited readers to call or e-mail with their suggestions and the staff used this feedback in selecting nominees. To voice your opinion or register your support for a nominee please call Managing Editor Mark Malyszko at (212) 224-3281 or e-mail: mmalyszko@iinews.com. Winners will be announced in May.