The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Daniel M. Hawke, the chief of the Enforcement Division’s Market Abuse Unit, will step down as director of the Philadelphia Regional Office to concentrate his efforts on leading the nationwide unit.

Mr. Hawke has served in dual senior officer roles at the SEC for nearly four years, leading the Market Abuse Unit since its creation in January 2010 and directing the Philadelphia office for more than seven years.  He has played key roles in the restructuring of the Enforcement Division and the implementation of the five specialized units as well as the Office of Market Intelligence.  Mr. Hawke also contributed significantly to recent enhancements in the agency’s National Exam Program.

“Dan is a key and trusted member of the national enforcement team,” said Andrew J. Ceresney, Co-Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.  “He successfully led the Philadelphia office while also building the Market Abuse Unit into an important center of expertise and innovation on market structure and insider trading cases.  We appreciate the sacrifices he and his family made while he held these two positions, and look forward to his continued leadership of the Market Abuse Unit.”

Andrew Bowden, Director of the SEC’s National Exam Program, added, “Dan has been a significant contributor to the National Exam Program – locally where he built and led an exceptional team of skilled and experience examiners in Philadelphia, and nationally where he was an influential contributor in its development and evolution.”

A national search will seek to identify candidates to fill the regional director position.  Mr. Hawke will continue to serve in that role until a successor is chosen.

Mr. Hawke said, “It has been a great honor to work with the extraordinary staff of the Philadelphia Regional Office whose accomplishments during the past seven years have been outstanding.  They have established the Philadelphia office as a formidable examination presence in our region and a strong national player in the enforcement of the federal securities laws.” 

During his tenure in Philadelphia, Mr. Hawke has led numerous key enforcement actions having national impact, including:

• BP – Disclosure fraud charges related to the rate of oil flowing into Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon explosion; third-largest penalty ever assessed by SEC.
• State of New Jersey – First-of-its-kind case charging a state with federal securities fraud for misleading disclosures about the state’s two largest pension plans.
• Nicos Achilleas Stephanou and Joseph Contorinis, et al. – Insider trading case involving an investment banker who tipped a hedge fund manager in advance of pending mergers.
• Goldman Sachs Execution and Clearing – Reg. SHO violations of naked short sale close out requirements.
• Morgan Stanley & Co. – Best execution violations resulting from undisclosed markups and markdowns on certain not held retail orders.
• Scottrade – Violations related to failure to seek to obtain best execution for Nasdaq pre-open orders.
• Deutsche Bank Securities – Inadequate disclosures related to the sale of auction rate securities.
• Estonian “Spider” Case – Landmark enforcement action against an Estonian investment bank and individuals for electronic theft and trading in advance of more than 360 confidential press releases issued by more than 200 U.S. public companies.

During Mr. Hawke’s tenure, the examination staff in Philadelphia played a key role in navigating the impact of the 2008 financial crisis on regulated entities in the Mid-Atlantic region, including the deployment of key personnel to examine firms nationwide experiencing net capital challenges.  Mr. Hawke co-chaired the National Exam Program’s technology committee and oversaw the implementation of its recommendations to ensure that the agency’s examination staff had the proper tools and resources at their disposal.

Mr. Hawke became the director of the Philadelphia office in April 2006 and oversaw the examination and enforcement programs in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.   Mr. Hawke began his SEC career in 1999 as a staff attorney in the Division of Enforcement, and he was promoted to associate director for enforcement in the Philadelphia office in March 2005.  Prior to joining the SEC staff, Mr. Hawke spent 10 years in private practice.

Mr. Hawke received the SEC’s Stanley Sporkin Award in 2008, its Ellen Ross Award in 2001, and twice received Chairman’s Awards for Excellence in 2010 and 2011.