[Photo: Silver Lake, CA  -  by David Chang / Panoramio]

Sharon Binger, who formerly headed the SEC’s Philadelphia office, has joined Silver Lake, the 2nd-biggest private equity firm focused on technology. So continues a trend among PE firms who have hired former SEC lawyers to oversee their compliance.

• Marshall Sprung joined Blackstone Group in May after the firm agreed to pay $39Mn to settle SEC charges that it failed to fully inform investors about fees and business discounts.

• Bruce Karpati joined KKR in 2014 as global chief compliance officer. In June 2015, the firm paid $30Mn to settle SEC charges it allowed some investors, including the firm’s own executives, to escape expenses linked to unsuccessful corporate buyouts.

PE firms have been hiring top SEC attorneys since Congress passed Dodd-Frank in 2010, which gave the agency greater authority to regulate the industry. Since then, the SEC has probed how fund managers divvy up expenses and disclose the details to investors, which are typically made up of institutions and wealthy individuals.

Ms. Binger will join the company’s Menlo Park, CA., office, replacing Sahil Desai, who left last summer to work at First Republic Bank. Binger had been with the SEC from 2008 until December 2016. During her time at the SEC, Binger helped revamped the agency’s program examining whether PE firms and hedge funds comply with securities laws. She used a risk-based approach to determine which firms the agency should look into.