The Securities and Exchange Commission has tapped David Becker, a partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, to be the SEC’s general counsel and senior policy director. The appointment is Chairman Mary Schapiro’s first since she took office.

As general counsel, Becker will coordinate legal cases and advise on enforcement actions, and will have an additional role in developing and implementing SEC policies. “David has distinguished himself as one of the leading experts on financial services regulation and securities law, and he will now help shape the SEC’s future as an ever-stronger regulator,” Schapiro said in the statement.

Becker, who first joined the SEC as deputy general counsel in 1998, previously served as the SEC’s general counsel from 2000 to 2002, before leaving the post. During his time with the SEC, Becker helped shape major policy and regulatory initiatives and he counseled the SEC on most matters that came before it, particularly matters related to corporate governance and accounting and disclosure.