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SIFMA Appoints Saima S. Ahmed Executive Vice President and General Counsel

Washington, D.C., September 7, 2022 – SIFMA today announced Saima S. Ahmed has been appointed Executive Vice President and General Counsel.

In this role, Ms. Ahmed will oversee SIFMA’s legal, compliance and litigation matters, leading a team of internal lawyers and collaborating with the larger SIFMA staff on key regulatory initiatives. Additionally, she will oversee relationships with key regulators and outside counsel.  

Ms. Ahmed joins SIFMA from the New York Stock Exchange where she served as Senior Director, NYSE Regulation and Head of the Market Watch and Corporate Actions groups.

“We are excited to have Saima join SIFMA as our new general counsel,” said SIFMA president and CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. “Saima’s extensive experience as a litigator, regulator and manager will be a tremendous asset to SIFMA and our members, as well as a complement to our outstanding legal team. I also want to thank Ira Hammerman for his leadership and contributions over the past near two decades.”

Joseph Seidel, chief operating officer of SIFMA, added, “Saima brings significant legal and regulatory experience and industry knowledge to SIFMA. We are thrilled to welcome her to SIFMA.”

“I am honored to join SIFMA and look forward to working with the talented lawyers within the Office of the General Counsel and the entire SIFMA staff,” said Saima Ahmed. “SIFMA is the preeminent trade association representing the U.S. securities industry, and I am very excited to work with such a talented group of professionals on behalf of the industry.”

“I congratulate Saima on her appointment and look forward to a seamless transition in the coming months on behalf of the SIFMA member community,” said Ira Hammerman.

Previously, Ms. Ahmed served as Director, NYSE Regulation and Deputy Head of the Surveillance & Investigations group and oversaw teams conducting regulatory investigations and other matters involving trading on NYSE exchanges. Prior to the NYSE, she was a Senior Enforcement attorney at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and was appointed to the Department of Justice as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Previously she was an attorney at Sidley Austin LLP representing financial services clients as a litigator before federal and state courts and the DOJ, SEC, CFTC, and FINRA. Ms. Ahmed received her Bachelor’s in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and her JD with honors from George Washington University Law School. She is admitted to the bar in New York.

Ms. Ahmed will serve as a member of SIFMA’s operating and management committees as well as the SIFMA Compliance and Legal Society Executive Committee. She will be located in SIFMA’s New York office and will begin in October 2022.

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SIFMA is the leading trade association for broker-dealers, investment banks and asset managers operating in the U.S. and global capital markets. On behalf of our industry’s one million employees, we advocate on legislation, regulation and business policy affecting retail and institutional investors, equity and fixed income markets and related products and services. We serve as an industry coordinating body to promote fair and orderly markets, informed regulatory compliance, and efficient market operations and resiliency. We also provide a forum for industry policy and professional development.

SIFMA, with offices in New York and Washington, D.C., is the U.S. regional member of the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA).  

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