The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has appointed veteran staffer Nicole Creola Kelly as chief of its Office of the Whistleblower.

Kelly, who has been with the SEC for more than two decades, most recently was senior special counsel in the Office of the General Counsel. She also served as counsel to former SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo White and former SEC Commissioner Kara M. Stein, and has had stints in the Enforcement Division’s Complex Financial Instruments Unit and whistleblower office.