SEC Investor Advocate Rick Fleming to Depart

Rick Fleming, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s first investor advocate, is leaving the agency July 1.

Fleming was appointed in February 2014 as director of the Office of the Investor Advocate.

“We thank Rick for building the Office of the Investor Advocate from the ground up and for providing more than eight years of service,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler and Commissioners Hester Peirce, Allison Herren Lee and Caroline Crenshaw, in a statement.

“As the SEC’s inaugural Investor Advocate, he has been a strong and independent voice for the investors we serve and a tireless, dedicated, and effective advocate on their behalf.”

The Office of the Investor Advocate is responsible for assisting retail investors in their interactions with the commission and self-regulatory organizations, analyzing the impact on investors of proposed rules and regulations, identifying problems that investors have with financial service providers and investment products, and proposing legislative or regulatory changes to promote the interests of investors.