By Chris Prentice
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday named a new chief to lead its unit tasked with overseeing public company disclosures, a high-profile role as the agency moves to address rising calls for greater transparency from companies about environmental, social and governance issues.
Renee Jones, recently an associate dean at Boston College Law School, will become director of the SEC’s division of corporation finance on June 21, the SEC said in a statement. Before her career in academia, Jones was an attorney with Hill & Barlow law firm.
The SEC’s division of corporation finance has been reviewing public company disclosures around climate risks, an issue that has gained increasing attention from regulators. SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who took the helm at the agency in April, has said rulemaking around climate risk will be a key focus.
The unit’s current acting head, John Coates, will become SEC general counsel, also effective June 21, the statement said. Coates, previously a professor at Harvard University, has been leading the division of corporation finance since February.
(Reporting by Chris PrenticeEditing by Chizu Nomiyama and Will Dunham)
