H. David Kotz is the Inspector General of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) since his appointment on December 5, 2007. The duty of the Inspector General at the SEC is to conduct independent and objective audits, investigations and inspections to detect waste, fraud and abuse, and promote economy, effectiveness and efficiency.

Career

Kotz previously worked at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where he was an Attorney Advisor in the Office of the General Counsel and later a Chief in the Office of Labor and Employee Relations. Prior to his government service, Mr. Kotz worked at three law firms: Pepper Hamilton LLP

Pepper Hamilton LLP

Pepper Hamilton LLP is a U.S. law firm with 11 offices and around 500 attorneys. The firm is ranked among the 100 largest firms by revenue in the United States...

 in Washington D.C.; Stults & Balber, P.C., in New York City; and Graham & James

Graham & James

Graham & James LLP was founded as a maritime law firm in 1934, but in the succeeding decades the San Francisco firm expanded beyond its nautical heritage to specialize in more than 30 practice areas. It grew to become a leading full-service international law firm offering all principal corporate,...

 in New York City. Mr. Kotz graduated cum laude from the University of Maryland, College Park

University of Maryland, College Park

The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...

 in 1987 with a B.A. in Government and Politics, and earned his J.D. at Cornell Law School

Cornell Law School

Cornell Law School, located in Ithaca, New York, is a graduate school of Cornell University and one of the five Ivy League law schools. The school confers three law degrees...

 in 1990.

Madoff

Kotz is investigating the failures of the SEC to detect the $19 billion Madoff fraud by internal reporting and investigations. He is also investigating the responses by the SEC to the written complaints about Madoff.

Financial analyst and whistleblower

Whistleblower

A whistleblower is a person who tells the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, a public or private organization, or a company...

 Harry Markopolos

Harry Markopolos

Harry M. Markopolos is a former securities industry executive and independent financial fraud investigator for institutional investors and others seeking forensic accounting expertise. He has received public acclaim for uncovering evidence over a period of nine years that Bernard Madoff's wealth...

 has said that Kotz "was unflagging [and h]e restored my faith," looking at Kotz's role in investigating the agency's actions in the Madoff affair in particular.

Linda Chatman Thomsen / Pequot Capital Management

Kotz investigated the controversy reported by a former SEC lawyer who claimed he was fired in order to thwart his investigation of insider trading at Pequot Capital Management

Pequot Capital Management

Pequot Capital Management was a multi-billion dollar hedge fund sponsor founded in 1998 by Arthur J. Samberg that was forcibly terminated by order of the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2010. The firm's investment funds invested in a range of markets through a variety of strategies...

. Kotz recommended that disciplinary action against Linda Chatman Thomsen

Linda Chatman Thomsen

Linda Chatman Thomsen was the Director of the Division of Enforcement for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from 2005 until early 2009. Since arriving at the SEC in 1995, she has worked under four SEC Chairmen: Arthur Levitt, Harvey Pitt, William H. Donaldson, and Christopher Cox. ...

be commenced.