The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) names Haoxiang Zhu as head of the agency's Division of Trading and Markets, where he is expected to help the regulator shape policies around equity market structure, among other priorities.

Zhu, a professor of finance at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will begin at the SEC on Dec. 10, the agency said, adding that acting division head, David Saltiel, will serve as deputy to Zhu.