WASHINGTON — To help expedite the distribution of more than $5 billion Securities and Exchange Commission recoveries to injured investors, the agency announced on Feb. 5 the creation of the Office of Collections and Distributions.

Richard J. D'Anna has been hired as the first-ever director of the new office. D'Anna previously served as senior vice president at 1st Bridgehouse Securities and as senior vice president and consultant at FITS, Inc. He also served in senior roles at Fiserv Securities, Correspondent Clearing, Custody Operations, and at Prime Brokerage Services at Deutsche Bank/Alex Brown.

Lynn M. Powalski will become deputy director of the Office of Collections and Distributions. Powalski has been an assistant director and assistant chief litigation counsel for collections and distributions within the SEC's Division of Enforcement.

“The commission's strong commitment to recovering money from wrongdoers and returning it to investors is amply demonstrated by the more than $2 billion we distributed last year,” said SEC Chairman Christopher Cox. “In 2008, we can do more.”

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act passed by Congress in 2002 for the first time gave the SEC authority to distribute financial penalties paid by securities law violators directly to defrauded investors. Using this authority, the SEC said it already has distributed more than $3.5 billion. The new office is intended to further expedite the return of more than $5 billion in so-called Fair Funds to harmed investors, while cutting red tape and the costs of the distributions, according to SEC.

–msamaad@cutimes.com

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