Cynthia Glassman has announced that she will be stepping down from her role as a commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after the completion of her current term.

Glassman did not set a specific date for her departure. Her current term ends on June 5, but commissioners typically remain on the commission for up to 18 months beyond a term’s completion if they are not replaced.

“My term as SEC Commissioner has been the most exciting and fulfilling position of my career,” Glassman said. “It has been a privilege to work with chairman Cox, and his predecessors, Harvey Pitt and Bill Donaldson, as well as my fellow commissioners. I am grateful to President Bush for the opportunity to serve investors in this role.”

Since joining the commission in January 2002, Glassman has championed investor education, enhanced disclosure and increased use of economic analysis in SEC rulemaking. She served as acting chairman of the commission during the summer of 2005. A Ph.D. economist, she also played a key role in supporting efficient capital markets as well as effective implementation of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 and other investor protection efforts.

It was Glassman’s initiative that led to the establishment of an US$85 million investor education fund from the 2003 global settlement of research analyst conflict of interest charges involving the nation’s largest investment banks. She has been a consistent proponent of strong enforcement actions against wrongdoers. She has also consistently advocated the use of better cost-benefit analysis in SEC decisions to promote more effective investor protection and improved disclosure to help investors make informed decisions. She has also worked to ensure that the commission’s rulemaking objectives are clear and transparent and that the commission’s rules are appropriately tailored to achieve the desired result.

“Commissioner Glassman has been a stalwart proponent of investor protection, investor education, and clear disclosure,” said SEC chairman Cox. “Her perspective as an economist has been invaluable to me, ensuring that the agency’s decisions are always based on a thorough examination of the economic consequences to investors and markets. She is a woman of impeccable character whose exceptional experience and careful judgment has always led her to fair, objective, and principled results. I very much look forward to continuing to work with Commissioner Glassman during the remainder of her tenure, until a successor is confirmed.”

Prior to being appointed commissioner, Glassman spent over 30 years in the public and private sectors focusing on financial services regulatory and public policy issues. She served 12 years at the Federal Reserve and spent 15 years in consulting positions in the private sector. She taught economics at the University of Cambridge in England, where she remains senior member of Lucy Cavendish College. She has served on the Boards of the Federal Reserve Board Credit Union, the National Economists Club, Women in Housing and Finance, the Commission on Savings and Investment in America, and Hopkins House – a Center for Children and their Families, and was a member of the Executive Advisory Committee for the Bank Administration Institute’s Certified Risk Professional Certification Program.

Glassman received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and her B.A. in Economics from Wellesley College.