Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro has named Jonathan Sokobin as Acting Director of the SEC's Division of Risk, Strategy, and Financial Innovation (Risk Fin). He replaces Henry T.C. Hu who left the agency this week.

Sokobin, currently the Deputy Director and Managing Executive of the Division, will hold the position until a new director is appointed.

Risk Fin, created in September 2009, was the SEC's first new Division in 37 years. It provides sophisticated, interdisciplinary analysis across the entire spectrum of SEC activities, including policy making, rule making, enforcement, and examinations. In addition to this role as an agency "think tank," Risk Fin was created to help break down silos that compartmentalized the SEC's institutional expertise.

Sokobin's SEC service spans more than 12 years. He first joined the Office of Economic Analysis as a Visiting Academic Scholar in 1998. He joined the SEC staff full-time in 2000, specializing in the economics of corporate governance and disclosure. In 2004, he was named Deputy Chief Economist. From 2008 to 2010, Sokobin served as Director of the former Office of Risk Assessment.