The Securities & Exchange Commission today announced that Mellissa Campbell Duru has been named Deputy Director for Legal & Regulatory Policy in the Division of Corporation Finance. Ms. Duru most recently was a Special Counsel at Covington & Burling LLP & previously spent more than 15 years in various SEC roles. 

“I’m pleased to welcome Mellissa back to the SEC in this important new role,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler. “Mellissa’s wide-ranging experience will be an asset to the Commission’s work to ensure that investors have the fair, full, & truthful disclosure they need to make informed investment decisions.”

“I’m so excited to welcome Mellissa back to the agency as a Deputy Director,” said Erik Gerding, Director of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance. “She will bring her deep experience within the Division & around the Commission as well as from private practice to help us serve the public & our statutory mission. Mellissa’s policy expertise & legal skills will enable her to help lead our legal & regulatory policy efforts as we continue our rulemaking agenda & ongoing dialogue with the public.”

“It’s an honor to return to the SEC & work again with such talented & dedicated professionals,” Ms. Duru said. “I look forward to our work ahead & developing data-driven & pragmatic policies & rule recommendations to the Commission.”

At Covington & Burling, Ms. Duru worked in the Securities & Capital Markets practice, advising clients on securities regulation, capital markets transactions, & strategic corporate governance planning. She also served as a Vice Chair of the firm’s Environmental, Social, & Governance practice. Ms. Duru served at the SEC from 2004 to 2021, including as a Counsel to then-Commissioner Kara Stein, Special Counsel in the Division of Corporation Finance’s Office of Mergers & Acquisitions, & Cybersecurity Legal & Policy Advisor in the Division of Examinations. During her tenure, she also served as an SEC Brookings Institute Legislative Congressional Fellow in the Office of U.S. Senator Jack Reed. She began her SEC career in the Division of Corporation Finance’s Disclosure Review Program.  

Ms. Duru earned a bachelor’s degree with first class honors from McGill University, & a law degree from Harvard Law School.