U.S. Senator Warren urges Obama to replace head of SEC

[October 14, 2016]    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren urged President Barack Obama on Friday to replace Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White, saying she had undermined the agency's investor protection mission.

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) questions Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf (not pictured) during his testimony before a Senate Banking Committee hearing on the firm's sales practices on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., September 20, 2016. REUTERS/Gary Cameron

Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat who advocates for strong financial regulation, also said in a letter to Obama that White had failed to develop a rule requiring publicly traded companies to disclose political spending.

Warren has been a vocal critic of White, an independent who was chosen by Obama in 2013, but this is the first time she has called for White to be removed as chair.

"I do not make this request lightly," Warren wrote to Obama. "The only way to return the SEC to its intended purpose is to change its leadership."

She said Obama had the authority to choose one of the other two commissioners, both picked by the Democratic president, as the new chair. There are two vacancies on the five-member commission.

(Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Peter Cooney)

[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.