Washington (March 15, 2004) -- Attorney Paul Schott Stevens, former general counsel to the Investment Company Institute, is returning to the mutual fund trade group as its president.
He succeeds Matthew P. Fink, who announced last September his plans to retire in 2004 after nearly 34 years with the institute.
Stevens, who currently specializes in financial services matters as a partner at the Washington, D.C.-based law firm Dechert LLP, will return to the ICI on June 1.
Prior to joining Dechert in 1999, Stevens served as senior vice president and general counsel of Charles Schwab & Co.'s mutual fund and international enterprise. He served as general counsel of the ICI from 1993 to 1997. Previously, he represented mutual funds as a partner in the law firm of Dickstein Shapiro & Morin, and served at the White House as special assistant to President Reagan for national security affairs and as executive secretary of the National Security Council under National Security Adviser Colin L. Powell.
During his tenure at the ICI, Stevens led a number of initiatives, including the development of best practices governing personal investing by portfolio managers, the establishment of special educational initiatives for fund directors, and the adoption of significant disclosure reforms by the Securities and Exchange Commission. He also authored the institute's 1994 recommendation to the SEC that mutual fund advisers be required to have compliance programs and officers.
"His many years of experience representing mutual funds, their directors and advisers, combined with his work with the Congress, the SEC, the NASD and at the White House place him in a unique position to lead the institute in its representation of mutual funds in Washington," ICI chairman Paul G. Haaga Jr. said of Stevens' election.
-- WebCPA staff
