Newish SEC chair Christopher Cox was only just getting comfortable in own his seat and now faces the highest profile of the many vacancies he will need to fill at America's security regulator.

Late last week SEC Gerneral Counsel, Giovanni Prezioso ammounced he would be stepping down. Here's a run-down of the major accomplishments of the GC's office under Prezioso's tenure, via CFO.com:

During Prezioso's tenure, the Office of the General Counsel reviewed and provided legal advice to the commission on more than 2,000 enforcement actions and more than 100 rulemaking proceedings, according to the SEC. His office was also responsible for coordinating the commission's implementation of the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act within the strict timeframes set by Congress. Further, the Office of the General Counsel drafted regulations under Sarbanes-Oxley that established the first formal commission standards of professional conduct for attorneys representing public companies.

Prezioso has said he intends to remain in the GC's office through the start of 2006 to assist in the transition process. While he has announced plans to return to the private sector, the big questions remain: who, what, when and where?

You can read the full CFO.com piece, by Stephen Taub, here.

-- MDT