DRY taps Professor Vanderbilt post economic (Reuters)

By Sarah n. Lynch Sarah n. Lynch - Friday 20 may, 1: 16 pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - the Securities and Exchange Commission has operated the Vanderbilt University Professor Craig Lewis as its new Chief Economist and head of the division of risk, strategy and financial Innovation.

Lewis is currently at the SEC and will assume his new post next month. He was one of the six candidates who interviewed for the job, including other academics and a candidate of Goldman Sachs.

The position of the Chief Economist is crucial to help the Agency to validate the costs and benefits of the new rules about 100 that it must implement under the law of Dodd-Frank overhaul of Wall Street.

Division of risk, strategy and financial Innovation was created in 2009 as a "think tank" of the Agency help to improve coordination between divisions, identify emerging trends and promote interdisciplinary analysis.

First of all, it was led by law professor of the University of Texas Henry Hu, who returned to academia in January. The division, called "Risk fin," has been struggling to find his foot in the Agency dominated by counsel.

"Craig exceptional financial economist, said the former SEC Chief Economist Jim Overdahl, who now works for NERA economic Consulting." "" He is highly regarded on the inside and outside the sec. ?

Lewis is a Professor of finance at the Owen Graduate School of Management the University Vanderbilt. He was a University fellow at the SEC from January to July of 2010 and returned as a fellow in January of this year where he continued to work on the areas, including over-the-counter derivatives regulation and by helping to identify violations of securities laws.

"Professor Lewis is a distinguished economist with a good understanding of the complexity of financial markets," Chairman of the SEC, Mary Schapiro said in a statement. "The head of the division, it will not only lead our team of expert economists, but will also help to inject strong analysis in the decision-making processes of the SEC data-driven."

Lewis taught corporate finance and economy since 1983 and is also the recipient of several teaching awards.

He is a chartered accountant and holds a Bachelor's degree in accounting from Ohio State University and a master's degree and Ph.d. in finance from the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

(Sarah n. Lynch reports; editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Andre Grenon)

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