By Kimberly Chin
Administrative charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission against the dean of the University’s Zarb School of Business were dropped last month.
The dean, Salvatore Sodano, had been accused of failing to regulate securities violations at the American Stock Exchange (Amex), where he was the chairman and chief executive from 1999 to 2005. The case had been under investigation since November 2003, leading to SEC enforcers bringing charges in March of this year. The only penalization Sodano faced was a censure, a way of publicly reprimanding a public official for an offence.
Judge Robert Mahony ruled that the SEC did not have the authority to raise a censure against Sodano, because the charges were administrative and he no longer held a position with Amex.
SEC enforcers have called for an appeal of the judge’s decision, arguing that dismissing it would provide an example for executives of self-regularity organizations to evade SEC regulations in the future by resigning. They also argued that dismissal of the case would mean no public record of Sodano’s alleged regulatory failures, in the event that he reenters the securities industry.
Sodano’s attorneys filed a motion opposing the appeal, claiming that the judge’s decision was “carefully reasoned.”
Sodano notified the University of the investigation before he was named dean of the Zarb School in May 2006. The university consistently backed Sodano since the charges were brought.
He received both his bachelor and master of business administrative from the University and was a recipient of an Alumni Achievement Reward in 2000.

Salvatore Sodano (left), dean of Zarb School of Business. (Photo courtesy amex.com)