George S. Canellos

George S. Canellos is the Acting Director of the Division of En-forcement of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Prior to becoming Acting Director, Mr. Canellos served as Deputy Director since June 2012.  In these positions, Mr. Canellos is responsible for helping to set enforcement priorities for the SEC and to supervise the civil law enforcement efforts of more than 1,200 SEC personnel located in 12 offices across the country.  From July 2009 until May 2012, Mr. Canellos served as Director of the SEC's New York Regional Office, the largest of the SEC's regional offices.  In that position, Mr. Canellos oversaw approximately 400 professional staff of enforcement attorneys, accountants, investigators and compliance examiners engaged in the investigation and prosecution of enforcement actions and the perfor-mance of compliance inspections in the region. The New York Office has responsibility for the largest concentration of SEC-registered financial institutions, including more than 4,000 investment banks, investment advisers, broker-dealers, mutual funds and hedge funds. 

Mr. Canellos began his career as a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. In 1994, he became an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York. During his nine years at the U.S. Attorney's Office, Mr. Canellos served in a number of positions, including Chief of the Major Crimes Unit, Senior Trial Counsel of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force, and Deputy Chief Appellate Attorney. 

Following his service at the U.S. Attorney's Office and immedi-ately prior to assuming his position at the SEC, Mr. Canellos served for more than six years as a litigation partner at the law firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP. Mr. Canellos is a graduate of Harvard College and Columbia University School of Law.