Mary Jo White, the former Manhattan US Attorney, is under consideration to become the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, three people with knowledge of the matter said.
White, now a partner at law firm Debevoise & Plimpton in New York, would succeed Elisse Walter, who took over as SEC chairman last month.
As US Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1993 to 2002, White became a leading terrorism prosecutor, winning the conviction of four followers of Osama bin Laden for the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa. Under her direction, prosecutors won convictions for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a failed plot to blow up the United Nations headquarters and other New York landmarks.
White didn’t respond to an e-mail seeking comment.