Ray Garrett Jr. (August 11, 1920 – February 3, 1980 in Chicago, Illinois) was a senior partner at Gardner Carton & Douglas in Chicago until his appointment as the Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under President Richard Nixon in 1973, where he served for two years.
He first joined the SEC in 1954 and served as Director of Corporate Regulation before returning to Chicago at Gardner, Carton & Douglas in 1958 as a partner.
Garrett spearheaded tough legislation, making his commission one of the strongest in recent history.
One of these changes was the demise of fixed commissions on stock transactions, which met with mixed results.
Ray Garrett also participated in revising Parts VII through XI of the American Law Institute's Federal Securities Code which was published the year he died, and was a frequent contributor to journals in his field.