The Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. announced that Mary Jo White has resigned from its board after her husband was appointed to a top job at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

White, a partner at the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton and former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, resigned from the board following the appointment of her husband, John White, as director of the Division of Corporation Finance at the SEC.

“We certainly understand Ms. White’s decision to resign to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest in light of her husband’s appointment,” says Robert Greifeld, president and CEO of Nasdaq. “Nasdaq will miss her expertise and the high level of diligence and professionalism with which she performed. Ms. White was an accomplished board member, who always acted in the best interest of Nasdaq, its shareholders and the investing public.”

White is currently the chair of the litigation department of Debevoise & Plimpton. She previously served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from June 1993 to January 2002 where she was the first and only woman to serve in the premier U.S. Attorney’s office in the country.”