SEC's Philly leader exits agency for Morgan Lewis law firm

(Reuters) - The outgoing director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Philadelphia office will have a new home beginning in May, when she joins law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius to co-lead its securities enforcement practice, the firm said Monday.

Kelly Gibson, who will be based out of Morgan Lewis' New York and Philadelphia offices, left the SEC on Friday after 14 years at the agency.

She said it "felt like the right time" to move into private practice given the SEC's "pretty aggressive regulatory agenda."

Gibson was a part of the SEC team that charged BP Plc with defrauding its investors in connection with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The British oil company in November 2012 paid $525 million to settle the claims.

She also supervised the insider-trading case against former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Mychal Kendricks, who pleaded guilty in September 2018 and was sentenced to one day in prison.

Last year, Gibson briefly served as the former acting deputy director of the SEC's enforcement division. She also led the agency's new task force examining misconduct related to environmental, social and governance issues.

Read more:

U.S. markets regulator deploys team to target climate, ESG misconduct

Kendricks pleads guilty to insider trading

BP's other victims are its shareholders: Frankel

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