Barack Obama has chosen experienced financial regulator Mary Shapiro to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, reports the Washington Post.

The selection of Mary L. Schapiro, who has served as acting chairwoman of the SEC and chief of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, will make it easier for the Obama administration to merge the two agencies as part of a broad regulatory overhaul expected next year. Key regulators and lawmakers have advocated for such a move, arguing that the bifurcation of the two agencies credited to the lack of oversight that triggered the financial crisis.

“Schapiro, 53, has a history of attracting support from both Republicans and Democrats.”

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