President Barack Obama will nominate Mary Jo White, a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton and a former Southern District U.S. attorney, as the next chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this afternoon, a White House official has confirmed.

White, now a white-collar defense lawyer, has been at Debevoise since 2002. Obama is expected to make the announcement at a 2:30 p.m. press conference at the White House.