Steven Wallman is the former commissioner of the

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

(SEC). Wallman held this position from 1994 to 1997. He has also founded several companies, including Folio Financial, Inc. and Proxy Governance, Inc.

Biography

Steven Wallman was sworn in as a commissioner of the SEC on July 5, 1994, having been appointed by

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

. Wallman previously was a partner at law firm

Covington & Burling Covington & Burling LLP is an American multinational law firm. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the firm advises clients on transactional, litigation, regulatory, and public policy matters. In 2021, Vault.com ranked Covington & Burling as th ...

. Wallman received a J.D. from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

and

M.S. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the mo ...

. In his time with the SEC, he fought for the "decimalization" of stock prices (i.e., using decimals instead of the then-standard fractions, e.g., $10.25 instead of $10¼) on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...

, and AMEX. After much testing and various pilot programs, the first day of decimalized stock prices took place on March 26, 2001. Wallman is the founder of several companies, including Folio Financial, Inc.
acquired in 2020
by

Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...

) and Proxy Governance, Inc. In late September 2008, Wallman published
commentary
in the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'' to help solve the credit crisis without a bailout by using taxpayer-provided funds to make money available to homeowners who live in their homes (and not speculators) to stabilize housing. Wallman's plan is to provide financial institutions a government guarantee in lieu of any penalties or foreclosure to homeowners that have a mortgage in distress the current or missed payments under the mortgage. When a borrower agrees to have the government take over the mortgage payments, the mortgage company notify the government, then the government to make the payments, and the borrower would sign a note agreeing to repay the government with interest at the same rate currently required under the borrower's mortgage. In late September 2008, FOLIOfn released
media advisory
that Wallman is available to comment on the proposed

Proposed bailout of United States financial system The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, often called the "bank bailout of 2008", was proposed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, passed by the 110th United States Congress, and signed into law by President George W. Bush. It became ...

. Wallman currently serves on

FINRA The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is a private American corporation that acts as a self-regulatory organization (SRO) that regulates member brokerage firms and exchange markets. FINRA is the successor to the National Associati ...

's FinTech Industry Committee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallman, Steven Members of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Clinton administration personnel People associated with Covington & Burling Columbia Law School alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni