Jones Day Snags Another Top SEC Official in Texas

The head of the SEC’s office in Texas has left for Jones Day, just like his predecessor did in 2015, the law firm said Jan. 28.

Shamoil Shipchandler stepped down as director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Fort Worth Regional Office Jan. 25. He will start Feb. 25 at Jones Day’s Dallas office, where former Fort Worth Regional Office director David Woodcock is a partner.

Shipchandler will serve as a partner in the firm’s investigations and white collar defense practice. He previously worked at Bracewell LLP in Dallas, Covington & Burling LLP in Washington, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas before joining the SEC as director in 2015.

“The close of my third fiscal year felt like the right time to leave the Commission,” Shipchandler told Bloomberg Law in an email. “Leaving public service is difficult–and leaving the incredible staff of the FWRO even more so—but changing senior leadership also provides the opportunity for new ideas and new innovations.”

Shipchandler oversaw about 140 SEC staffers as they pursued enforcement and examination matters in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kansas, in addition to Texas. He left the agency the same day his office brought a case against a Texas real estate developer and others for allegedly conducting multi-million dollar offering fraud, according to the commission. The enforcement action followed his office’s involvement in numerous cases during his tenure, including matters related to oil and gas schemes, cryptocurrency, and cannabis investment fraud, among others.

He also was known for using humor on Twitter to help draw interest in his office’s work, mixing comic musings with SEC news and investor education.

The SEC Fort Worth Twitter account has about 11,000 followers, more than any of the commission’s 10 other regional offices.

“Sorry to see him go,” tweeted one of the Fort Worth office’s Twitter followers. “Hopefully his replacement will have the same people- and social media-friendly outlook that he has.”

The commission has yet to announce Shipchandler’s successor.