After serving as the SEC's Inspector General for over four years, H. David Kotz is leaving the agency to join Gryphon Strategies, a private investigative services firm. The SEC announced today that Kotz will join Gryphon at the end of January, where he will focus on conducting corporate fraud investigations and assisting whistleblowers. SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro called Kotz a "committed public servant who has served the agency with great distinction for the past four years. His work helped us to identify areas where we needed to improve the way we operate, bolster our resources, and upgrade our technology.”

In his four years at the agency, Kotz led numerous high-profile investigations, including the 457-page report in September 2009 on the SEC's failings in the Madoff case entitled, “Investigation of Failure of the SEC to Uncover Bernard Madoff's Ponzi Scheme.” Other notable moments in Kotz's tenure as SEC IG include:

October 2008: The IG concluded in a 191-page report that there was evidence “rais[ing] serious questions about the impartiality and fairness” of the SEC's investigation of possible insider trading at Pequot Capital Management. The report found that the SEC should consider disciplining the director of enforcement, Linda Thomsen; the direct supervisor of a fired SEC attorney, Robert Hanson; and the assistant director of enforcement, Mark Kreitman. In November 2008, the SEC's chief administrative law judge, Brenda Murray, rejected the IG's recommendation that the SEC officials should be disciplined.

September 2009: After issuing the Madoff report, the IG also released a report entitled "Program Improvements Needed Within the SEC's Division of Enforcement" offering 21 specific recommendations. Director of Enforcement Robert Khuzami stated that the SEC concurred with all of the recommendations.

April 2010: The IG released a 151-page report entitled, “Investigation of the SEC's Response to Concerns Regarding Robert Allen Stanford's Alleged Ponzi Scheme.”

Sepember 2010: The IG released a high-profile report on its "Investigation of Conflict of Interest Arising from Former General Counsel's Participation in Madoff-Related Matters." The IG said it was referring the results of its investigation relating to David Becker's conflict of interest to the Public Integrity Section of the DOJ's Criminal Division. In November 2010, however, the DOJ stated that it had decided not to pursue an investigation concerning Becker.

December 2010: Bloomberg reported that the SEC's General Counsel was looking into Kotz's appearance in a 75-minute videotaped interview about the SEC and the stock market to Phillip Cannella III. Cannella sells a “crash-proof retirement” plan online and through a paid radio program, and he posted the video of his interview with Kotz to his website. Also in December, reports surfaced that (a) a fear of Kotz's probes had caused some SEC employees to start relying largely on private e-mail accounts and cell phones, rather than their government-issued devices, so that their conduct would be harder to monitor; and (b) two SEC employees who were the subjects of different investigations by Kotz had filed formal complaints against him, alleging that he"bullied" them, twisted facts, and retaliated against them.