Obama May Name Mary Schapiro As SEC Chief

The SEC has come under fire for what many say was lax oversight of Wall Street financial institutions before the collapse of investment giants Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. The SEC is also accused of failing to heed warnings about an investment fund run by money manager Bernard Madoff.

Madoff has been accused of defrauding his clients of $50 billion.

Current SEC Chairman Christopher Cox has ordered an internal investigation to determine how the agency missed the warning.

Democratic Party officials say Mr. Obama has offered U.S. Representative Ray LaHood, an Illinois Republican, the job of transportation secretary. The nomination would make LaHood the second Republican in the Cabinet after Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

At a news conference Wednesday in Chicago, the president-elect named former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack to head the Department of Agriculture, while Colorado Senator Ken Salazar was named for the post of interior secretary.

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama is expected to announce his choice Thursday to run the federal agency responsible for regulating many financial markets.

By VOA News