WASHINGTON, DC – February 9, 2022 – Claudia Slacik has been named Chair of the Board of Directors of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which maintains a special reserve fund authorized by Congress to help investors at failed securities brokerage firms.
Ms. Slacik was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden Jr., and confirmed by the United States Senate on February 3, 2022. On February 7, 2022, the President designated Ms. Slacik as Chair of SIPC. She steps into the position formerly held by Orlan M. Johnson.
SIPC President and CEO Josephine Wang said, “We are delighted to have Ms. Slacik join us in SIPC’s important mission of investor protection. Her extensive experience in the financial services sector will be a valuable resource and addition to the Board.”
Ms. Slacik said, “I am deeply honored to serve with SIPC and to contribute to its efforts to protecting the investing public. I am grateful for the trust that has been placed in me and look forward to assuming my responsibilities as Chair.”
During her 30-year career in the financial services sector, Ms. Slacik has received recognition for her work in financial restructurings, risk management, corporate finance, and trade finance.
After an early career at Bankers Trust Company, Ms. Slacik spent 17 years at Citigroup, where she was global head of asset-based lending as well as trade services and finance. She was then CEO for JP Morgan’s securities services business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. President Barack Obama appointed her to the Export-Import Bank of the United States as its Chief Banking Officer.
She is a graduate of Smith College and received her MBA from New York University. In 2018, she was a Fellow in Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Institute.
SIPC’s Board of Directors has seven members, five of whom are appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. The U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve each appoint a director. Directors are appointed for a term of three years and may serve until replaced.
Created by Congress, SIPC was established as a nonprofit under the Securities Investor Protection Act of 1970 (SIPA). It was tasked with creating and administering a fund that would be used to restore investors’ missing assets in the event of a brokerage firm failure. Since 1971, through 330 liquidation proceedings, SIPC has distributed more than $140 billion for the benefit of more than 773,000 investors who otherwise might have lost their hard-earned savings.