President Barack Obama has nominated Kara Stein and Michael Piwowar to serve as commissioners of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Ms. Stein, an aide to Rhode Island Democratic Senator Jack Reed, would replace SEC Democratic Commissioner Elisse Walter, whose term expired in June 2012. Mr. Piwowar is an economist who works for the Senate Banking Committee and would replace SEC Republican Commissioner Troy Paredes, whose term expires in June 2013. The President’s nomination of the two Senate aides indicate the administration’s urgency for the SEC to have a full, five-member commission to complete its rulemaking agenda that includes finalizing several regulations required by the Dodd-Frank Act. The nomination of Mr. Piwowar, who once served as a senior economist on the Council of Economic Advisers and a visiting scholar at the SEC, also likely signifies that the SEC is trying to address concerns that the SEC is not fully considering the economic impact of its regulations.