Burns will oversee several of the division’s core regulatory functions, including market oversight and operations, derivatives policy and trading practices, and chief counsel and enforcement liaison functions.
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He also will contribute to the division’s ongoing implementation of key provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. In addition, Burns will assist with the overall management of the division, working closely with the division’s director Robert Cook and other deputy director John Ramsay, the regulator said in a statement.
Burns has been a member of Chairman Mary Schapiro’s staff since March 2010, most recently serving as the agency’s Deputy Chief of Staff.
"Jim has played an instrumental role in the implementation of the financial reform legislation and navigating through complex market structure issues," said chairman Schapiro. "In his new position, he will continue to help put in place the new regulatory regime governing complex derivatives as well as critical market structure improvements."
Burns is expected to begin his new role in the division in late May. He fills the deputy director position that was vacated by James Brigagliano when he left the agency for the private sector.
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By GlobalDataPrior to joining the chairman’s staff, Burns was a counsel to Commissioner Kathleen Casey, advising her chiefly on investment management and enforcement matters. Before joining the SEC in 2008, he was a securities lawyer in private practice who focused on investment management and broker-dealer regulatory and enforcement matters.
