Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler said Wednesday that he has appointed Barbara Roper as his senior advisor.
Roper, director of investor protection for the Consumer Federation of America, will focus on issues relating to retail investor protection, including matters relating to policy, broker-dealer oversight, investment advisor oversight and examinations.
Barbara Roper "Barb is a champion for investors and will provide invaluable counsel on behalf of the American public," Gensler said in a statement.
Recommended For You
"I've had the pleasure of working closely with her on the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the critical market reforms of the Dodd-Frank Act, and I'm thrilled to collaborate with her again at the SEC," Gensler explained.
Roper added in the statement that she's "excited" to join Gensler's leadership team.
"I've dedicated my career to ensuring that our capital markets work for the average investor," she said.
"With investor protection at the core of the SEC's mission, I'm looking forward to bringing that same focus on the needs of individual investors to my work for the SEC," she explained.
Responding to the news, CFP Board CEO Kevin R. Keller, said: "CFP Board applauds U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler's appointment of Barbara Roper as senior advisor to the Chair. Ms. Roper is uniquely qualified to assist the chair in advancing the agency's mission."
"While most people know Barbara Roper for her life's work on investor protection issues, we've watched for years as she's engaged tirelessly with industry participants to find common ground. Ms. Roper [has] generously shared her expertise by serving with distinction on three CFP Board commissions," Keller explained in a statement.
The CFP Board commissions Roper has served on are:
- The Commission on Standards, which developed CFP Board's Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct,
- The Standards Resource Commission, which develops guidance resources interpreting the Code and Standards, and
- The Public Policy Council, which helps inform CFP Board's public policy positions.
A 35-year veteran of the consumer group, Roper has been a prominent advocate on investor protection issues, particularly the standards that apply to investment professionals giving advice and recommendations. She is a graduate of Princeton University.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Melanie Waddell
Melanie is senior editor and Washington bureau chief of ThinkAdvisor. Her ThinkAdvisor coverage zeros in on how politics, policy, legislation and regulations affect the investment advisory space. Melanie’s coverage has been cited in various lawmakers’ reports, letters and bills, and in the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule in 2024. In 2019, Melanie received an Honorable Mention, Range of Work by a Single Author award from @Folio. Melanie joined Investment Advisor magazine as New York bureau chief in 2000. She has been a columnist since 2002. She started her career in Washington in 1994, covering financial issues at American Banker. Since 1997, Melanie has been covering investment-related issues, holding senior editorial positions at American Banker publications in both Washington and New York. Briefly, she was content chief for Internet Capital Group’s EFinancialWorld in New York and wrote freelance articles for Institutional Investor. Melanie holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Towson University. She interned at The Baltimore Sun and its suburban edition.
