The CFP Board has appointed a former Securities and Exchange Commission official with decades of experience in securities enforcement and regulation to the newly created position of managing director for enforcement.

Thomas A. Sporkin fills the position on Jan. 4. He comes from Buckley LLP, where he served as an attorney focusing on providing securities related advice to boards, executives and regulated activities, the CFP Board announced today. Sporkin, who will report directly to CFP Board CEO Kevin Keller, was with the SEC Enforcement Division for 20 years before joining the law firm.

"Sporkin will lead a team of attorneys and legal staff to modernize the detection, investigation and prosecution activities" at the CFP Board, the board said in a press release.

The appointment of Sporkin comes at a time when the CFP Board is operating under a new set of rules governing the conduct of its certified financial planner certificants. On June 30, the board started enforcing its new Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct, a key feature being that CFP professionals need to act as fiduciaries at all times. The prior rules required CFPs to act as fiduciaries only when they were providing financial planning.

"Tom's experience and expertise will transform and strengthen CFP Board's enforcement functions," Keller said in a statement. "He brings both regulatory and corporate perspectives on enforcement activities and the importance of outcomes that are credible to the public, fair to CFP professionals and appropriate for a voluntary certification program."

At the SEC, Sporkin co-managed the Office of Internet Enforcement, where he supervised investigations into all of the Division of Enforcement program areas, including financial reporting, stock options backdating, insider trading, market manipulation, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, regulated entity compliance and internet-related securities fraud, the board said.

Sporkin also designed, built and managed the Office of Market Intelligence, which included the Office of Market Surveillance and the SEC's Whistleblower program, the board said. His responsibilities in this role included the supervision of investigations and data mining on all intelligence received by the SEC.

Sporkin received his law degree from Washington College of Law at American University and his bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland, the board said. He has also taught securities law at George Mason School of Law and Catholic University of America's School of Law.