WASHINGTON – Rebecca J. Olsen has been named director of the Office of Municipal Securities, the commission announced on Tuesday.
Olsen has been acting director of OMS since September 2017 when then-director Jessica Kane left to go to the SEC’s Office of Credit Ratings. Kane was named director of that office on May 7.
Under Olsen's leadership, OMS has been involved in several recent initiatives aimed at increasing transparency in the municipal securities market, including the adoption of amendments to the SEC’s Rule 15c2-12 on muni disclosure and approval of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s rules on markup and markdown disclosures for retail investors.
"It is difficult to overstate the importance of the fixed income markets --- including the municipal bond market -- to the American economy and our Main Street investors," said SEC Chairman Jay Clayton. "Rebecca has a deep knowledge of the U.S. municipal bond market, and she and her talented staff in OMS go to work every day focused on the integrity and transparency of this market and the many municipalities and investors it serves."
Olsen was named OMS deputy director in May 2015 after serving as chief counsel for the office. She first joined the SEC in May 2013 as an attorney-fellow in OMS. Prior to that, she worked as a public finance attorney at the law firm of Ballard Spahr, serving as bond counsel, lender’s counsel, and borrower’s counsel on numerous public offerings and private placements.
She has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Boston College, a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, and a master of laws in international business law from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
