The Securities and Exchange Commission has named Kathleen Griffin as the agency’s first chief compliance officer, the latest in a series of measures undertaken to strengthen the SEC’s internal compliance program.

The position was created to streamline and centralize oversight responsibility for employee securities transactions and financial disclosure reporting. Griffin, who has extensive experience in establishing and guiding compliance programs, will head a new compliance unit within the SEC’s Office of Ethics Counsel.

Jaclyn Jaeger is a freelance contributor to Compliance Week after working for the company for 15 years. She writes on a wide variety of topics, including ethics and compliance, risk management, legal,...