Richard Best

Richard R. Best is Director of the New York Regional Office. Mr. Best joined the SEC in June 2015 as the Regional Director of the SEC's Salt Lake Office, and in 2018, he was named Regional Director of its Atlanta Office.

As Director of the New York Regional Office, Mr. Best leads a team of approximately 400 staff, including enforcement attorneys, accountants, and investigators who investigate and enforce the federal securities laws nationwide and examiners who perform compliance inspections in the New York region. The New York Regional Office is responsible for the largest concentration of SEC-registered financial institutions, including more than 4,000 investment banks, investment advisers, broker-dealers, mutual funds, and hedge funds.Richard R. Best was named Regional Director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Atlanta Regional Office in February 2018.

Before coming to the Commission, Mr. Best was a Chief Counsel in the Department of Enforcement of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Mr. Best was also a Director, Senior Trial Attorney and Trial Attorney at FINRA.

Mr. Best previously worked as an Assistant District Attorney in the Office of the Bronx County District Attorney. He was a supervisor in the Office’s Rackets Bureau where he managed high-profile public integrity and organized crime prosecutions, among other matters.

Mr. Best received his bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York, College at Old Westbury and a law degree from the Howard University School of Law.