Sec Cryptocurrency Mellissa Campbell Duru Named Division of Corporation Finance’s Deputy Director for Legal and Regulatory Policy

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Mellissa Campbell Duru has been named Deputy Director for Legal and Regulatory Policy in the Division of Corporation Finance. Ms. Duru most recently was a Special Counsel at Covington & Burling LLP and 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, and 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 and around the Commission as well as from private practice to help us serve the public and our statutory mission. Mellissa’s policy expertise and legal skills will enable her to help lead our legal and regulatory policy efforts as we continue our rulemaking agenda and ongoing dialogue with the public.”

“It’s an honor to return to the SEC and work again with such talented and dedicated professionals,” Ms. Duru said. “I look forward to our work ahead and developing data-driven and pragmatic policies and 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, and strategic corporate governance planning. She also served as a Vice Chair of the firm’s Environmental, Social, and 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 and Acquisitions, and Cybersecurity Legal and 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, and a law degree from Harvard Law School.