[3] In May 2013, President Barack Obama nominated her to serve as a Democratic member of the Commission to succeed Elisse Walter.

[3] Before being appointed to the SEC, Stein was an aide to Democratic Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island and helped write the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act.

[9] Stein furthered the long-running to-and-fro debate at the SEC and in Congress over the questionable issuance of waivers to banks and other corporate entities that had previously been sanctioned by law for financial misconduct.

In April 2014, Stein published a dissent to an SEC corporate waiver granted to The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS), which had previously been charged by the Justice Department with criminal violations.

[18] Stein served on the ten-member Financial Stability Task Force coordinated by the Brookings Institution and University of Chicago Booth School of Business.