White House sends Democrat SEC nominations to Senate

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Monday said it had sent nominations to the U.S. Senate to fill two empty Democrat seats at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The White House said it nominated Elisse Walter, former deputy director of the SEC's corporation finance division, and Luis Aguilar, a former SEC lawyer, to the posts.

The five-member investor protection agency has been operating for several weeks with three Republicans on the commission after Democrats Annette Nazareth left in January and Roel Campos left last autumn.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson earlier on Monday proposed merging the SEC with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as part of his proposal for regulatory reform.

The president nominates the SEC commissioners who then must be confirmed by the Senate.

(Reporting by Karey Wutkowski)