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Citadel's Griffin Adds to Hires From a Preferred Locale: the SEC

Citadel's Griffin Adds to Hires From a Preferred Locale: the SEC

(Bloomberg) -- Citadel tapped a former senior attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission as deputy general counsel, the fourth high-ranking official from Wall Street’s top regulator to join a Ken Griffin-owned firm in the last two years.

Ryan VanGrack, who was an adviser to former SEC Chair Mary Jo White and the agency’s enforcement chiefs, joined Griffin’s hedge fund in January, according to Zia Ahmed, a Citadel spokesman. Other responsibilities VanGrack held at the SEC included leading its financial technology working group, an effort to foster better collaboration between the regulator and the industry. At Citadel, he’ll report to Shawn Fagan, the firm’s chief legal officer.

“Ryan has a broad and varied legal background that will further strengthen our exceptional legal team,” Fagan said in a statement. “He is yet another example of Citadel attracting top talent to Chicago, and we’re thrilled to have him join us.”

VanGrack will work with the former head of the SEC’s Chicago office, David Glockner, who started in December as the hedge fund’s chief compliance officer.

Citadel Securities, Griffin’s market-making firm, has also been hiring from the SEC. Last April, Stephen Luparello became the firm’s general counsel after leading the SEC division that regulates stock trading and exchanges. Gregg Berman, who ran data and analytics in the SEC’s trading and markets unit, joined Citadel Securities in September 2016, as director of research.

Citadel Securities was sanctioned by the SEC in January 2017 over allegations it made misleading statements to brokers about how it priced some stock trades from late 2007 through January 2010. The firm agreed to pay $22.6 million to settle the case without admitting or denying the regulator’s findings.

Citadel Securities accounts for nearly one-fifth of all trading in the roughly $30 trillion U.S. stock market and handles more than a third of volume placed by retail investors.

To contact the reporters on this story: Matt Robinson in New York at mrobinson55@bloomberg.net, Ben Bain in Washington at bbain2@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jesse Westbrook at jwestbrook1@bloomberg.net, Gregory Mott

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