SEC主席夏皮罗将离任 留下权力真空

When Mary Schapiro took over as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2009, the agency was reeling from its failure to spot Bernard Madoff's yearslong fraud and the collapse of some of the investment banks it oversaw.

2009年夏皮罗(Mary Schapiro)出任美国证券交易委员会(Securities and Exchange Commission, 简称：SEC)主席一职时，该机构刚刚经受了重大打击，它未能及时发现麦道夫(Bernard Madoff)持续多年的欺诈行径，同时其监管的部分投资银行倒闭。

Ms. Schapiro, who said Monday that she would step down after four turbulent years, helped restore the agency's reputation and ensure its survival. But she also leaves behind a string of pressing regulatory issues─such as the so-called Volcker rule restricting proprietary trading at banks─that could languish while the White House searches for a permanent successor, tripping investors and financial firms seeking clarity on the rules of the road.

夏皮罗周一表示，动荡的四年过后她将卸任SEC主席一职。她帮助恢复了SEC的声誉，确保了SEC的存续。但她也留下了一连串紧迫的监管问题，比如限制银行自营交易的所谓“沃尔克规则(Volcker rule)。在白宫寻找接替她的正式继任者的同时，这些问题可能被忽略，并令投资者和金融机构难以明确规则。

Under Ms. Schapiro, the agency brought some high-profile enforcement actions, such as its successful civil insider-trading case against hedge-fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, and hired more technologically savvy officials to grapple with increasingly complex markets.

在夏皮罗的领导下，SEC开展了一些备受瞩目的执法行动，比如向参与内幕交易的对冲基金经理拉贾拉特南(Raj Rajaratnam)成功提起民事诉讼，同时聘用了更多精通技术的官员以应对日益复杂的市常

For all the successes, some critics see a number of failures. One of Ms. Schapiro's priorities, tightened rules for the $2.6 trillion money-market mutual-fund industry, collapsed this past summer when she failed to win over a majority of the five-member commission.

尽管取得了上述成功，一些批评者认为夏皮罗还是有一些失败之处。夏皮罗在任期间的工作重点之一是收紧对规模达2.6万亿美元的货币市场共同基金行业的监管规定。今年夏季，由于夏皮罗未能赢得SEC五位委员的多数支持，这一工作遭到失败。

The SEC has also made little progress in one of its most significant challenges: dealing with an explosion of computerized trading that has sparked a series of high-profile market breakdowns, triggering a crisis of confidence among mom-and-pop investors─the kind Ms. Schapiro pledged to protect as she took the job amid the fallout from the financial crisis.

电脑化交易数量激增引发了一系列引人注目的市场故障，导致很多家庭投资者出现信心危机。这是SEC面临的最严峻的挑战之一，但该机构在这方面却几乎没有取得进展。在金融危机的余波中走马上任之际，夏皮罗曾承诺要保护家庭投资者。

After her departure, which is set for Dec. 14, the SEC could struggle to pass new regulations until a successor is nominated by the White House and approved by Congress. Until then, the commission will comprise two Democrats and two Republicans, a situation that has historically led to gridlock.

夏皮罗定于12月14日离任。她离任后将由白宫提名一位继任者并经美国国会通过，在那之前SEC可能难以通过新的监管规定。在新主席上任前，SEC将由两位民主党人和两位共和党人组成，这一情况在历史上往往会导致僵局。

'When you have an even number of people, if there's any disagreement, it can be extremely difficult to get anything done,' said Annette Nazareth, a former Democratic commissioner at the regulator.

SEC前民主党委员纳扎瑞斯(Annette Nazareth)说，当委员数量为偶数时，如果存在任何分歧，想要达成一致非常困难。

For the time being, these problems will be the responsibility of Elisse Walter, a Democratic commissioner whom the White House tapped Monday to take over as chairman when Ms. Schapiro, who had more than a year left on her term, leaves. The White House intends to nominate a permanent successor before Ms. Walter's own tenure finishes at the end of 2013, an administration official said.

就目前来看，这些问题将交由SEC民主党委员沃尔特(Elisse Walter)来处理。白宫周一任命沃尔特在夏皮罗离职后担任SEC临时主席。夏皮罗的任期还有一年多才结束。一名政府官员说，白宫的意图是在2013年底沃尔特的任期结束前提名一位正式的继任者。

Ms. Walter said in the past that she didn't wish to remain at the SEC beyond 2013 but agency officials said Monday she could elect to stay in the top position if asked by President Barack Obama. Ms. Walter said Monday she's 'honored and humbled' to be the SEC's next chairman.

沃尔特此前曾说，2013年任期结束后她不打算继续留在SEC。但SEC官员周一表示，如果美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)提出要求，她会选择留任SEC主席一职。沃尔特周一表示，她对成为SEC下任主席感到“诚惶诚恐。

Mary John Miller, a top Treasury Department official who played a key role during the debt-ceiling debate, is under consideration to succeed Ms. Schapiro longer term, officials say. Ms. Miller is Treasury's undersecretary for domestic finance, and last year was responsible for managing the government's debt and its relations with capital-market officials. A Treasury spokeswoman declined to comment.

有关官员说，美国财政部高级官员米勒(Mary John Miller)被列为接替夏皮罗人选的考虑对象。米勒曾在去年的债务上限谈判中发挥关键作用，现为主管美国国内财政的副部长，去年曾负责管理美国政府债务以及政府同资本市场负责人的关系。美国财政部一位发言人拒绝置评。