Printable Biography of Arthur Levitt

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The longest serving chairman of the SEC, Arthur Levitt worked to educate, empower, and protect America's investors - now more than 50 million strong.

Empowering the Everyday Investor: Perhaps no one's done more to help the everyday investor than Arthur Levitt. As SEC Chairman, Levitt created the Office of Investor Education and Assistance and established a website that allows free and easy access to corporate filings and investor education materials. During his tenure, Levitt held more than 40 investor town meetings throughout the country to hear the concerns of investors and provide tips on safe and wise participation in the securities markets. Levitt provides sound investor advice in plain English, keeping investors up-to-date with the latest Securities information.

Corporate Governance and Sarbanes-Oxley: As chairman, perhaps no one cared about the stability of the market more than Levitt: he foresaw the accountability issues that contributed to Enron, and warned congress about them; he pushed for improving the quality of financial reporting, including strengthening the oversight role of corporate audit committees; and worked to level the information playing field through legislation requiring companies to release important information to all investors at the same time. Levitt offers insights regarding current and potential market regulation, how it will trend and what today’s regulatory climate will mean for investors and shareholders alike.

A Distinguished Investment Career: Before joining the SEC, Levitt served as the chairman of the New York City Economic Development Corporation and as chairman of the American Stock Exchange after working sixteen years on Wall Street. He is presently Senior Advisor to The Carlyle Group and on the board of Bloomberg LLP. He's also the author of Take On The Street: What Wall Street and Corporate America Don't Want You to Know/What You Can Do to Fight Back.