Education
Becker graduated from Columbia College (1968) and Columbia University Law School (1973), where he was editor-in-chief of the Columbia Law Review.
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David Becker
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He then was a law clerk for Judge Harold Leventhal of the United States. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and a year later for Justice Stanley Reed of the United States. Supreme Court. He served from January 2000 to May 2002 after joining the Securities and Exchange Commission staff as Deputy General Counsel in 1998, and again beginning in 2009. He left the second time in 2011.
Securities and Exchange Commission Inspector General H. David Kotz discovered that in spite of having a conflict of interest, Becker had worked on the investigation of the Madoff investment scandal.
The Becker family had received a $2 million inheritance that had been invested in a Madoff accountant Kotz referred the matter to the United States. Justice Department"s criminal division.
Becker indicated that he had notified seven senior Securities and Exchange Commission officials about the account, including the Chairman and the Securities and Exchange Commission"s ethics officer, and none suggested that he recuse himself. Becker said:
The Justice Department declined to pursue the matter.
Eventually then Securities and Exchange Commission chairwoman Mary Shapiro said about the incident "I wish that Mr.
Becker had recused himself, absolutely."
On September 22, 2011, Becker testified before the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Committee on Financial Services and the TARP, Financial Services and Bailouts of Public and Private Programs Subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform about his role in advising the Securities and Exchange Commission related to the bankruptcy of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities.
