Mary Simpkins to retire after decades-long career in SEC's Office of Municipal Securities

Mary Simpkins, senior special counsel in the Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Municipal Securities, will retire on Monday after a career in that office that spanned nearly three decades, two sources familiar with her plans confirmed.

Simpkins joined the Office of Municipal Securities in November 1997, a source familiar with her career there said.

Ed Fierro, a partner at law firm Bracewell who previously had served as senior counsel to the director of the OMS, said he had been unaware of Simpkins' plans to retire prior to being contacted by The Bond Buyer.

Fierro called Simpkins' long history in the Office of Municipal Securities "truly remarkable."

"She has been the backbone of many key decisions and rulemaking initiatives," Fierro said in an email, adding that he is certain that Simpkins' expertise will be missed. "No other person at the SEC has such a deep understanding of the Office of Municipal Securities and its evolution. Her institutional knowledge, experience and securities law expertise are irreplaceable."

The Office of Municipal Securities was first established on March 22, 1995, Simpkins noted in a December 2000 memo to the Office of Congressional Affairs regarding key municipal market reforms and events during the tenure of then SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt.

John Cross, who served as the first director of the newly independent Office of Municipal Securities, which he noted was created by Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, had also been unaware of Simpkins' plans to retire, but also said her expertise will be missed. Previously, the Office of Municipal Securities had been part of the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets, he said.

"Mary Simpkins was in the Office of Municipal Securities when I joined it as the first director in 2012," Cross said. "She was a great asset to the office and a tremendous source of institutional knowledge about the background of municipal securities and the SEC's role in regulating the municipal market."

Simpkins' career has included numerous watershed moments for the municipal market, not least among them Dodd-Frank, which tasked the SEC with creating an entirely new regulatory framework for municipal advisors. While mainly serving in a non-public facing role, Simpkins has occasionally been a source of public communication about SEC plans, speaking at conferences and other events. In this capacity she has spoken publicly about some significant events in municipal market regulation, including most recently the SEC's continuing work on the Financial Data Transparency Act, which requires that muni bond documents be produced in machine-readable format.

Currently helmed by Director Dave A. Sanchez, the Office of Municipal Securities coordinates SEC activities related to the roughly $4 trillion municipal securities market.

Asked about Simpkins' plans to retire, an SEC spokesperson declined to comment.