AUGUSTA – Michael Colleran, a former state prosecutor and Navy flight officer, has been named as Maine’s top securities regulator.

As securities administrator and head of the state Office of Securities, Colleran, 44, will be responsible for protecting Maine investors and promoting capital formation by small businesses.

Colleran’s appointment was announced Wednesday by Christine Bruenn, commissioner of the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation. Bruenn was the last to hold the post of securities administrator before being named to her current post.

“Mike brings great experience and knowledge of securities regulation from his position as an assistant attorney general. But equally important to me is his commitment to helping Maine small businesses,” Bruenn said. “Mike will promote Gov. [John] Baldacci’s vision of helping Maine businesses raise the capital needed for economic growth.”

Colleran said his goals for the office are to continue to protect investors by aggressively enforcing Maine’s securities laws while striving to make it easier for business people to comply with them.

Colleran comes to the job after serving for three years in the attorney general’s Financial Crimes and Civil Rights Division. He spent several years in private law practice and as a clerk to a federal judge in Pennsylvania and put in nine years of active duty in the Navy as a flight officer, serving as bombardier and navigator on carrier-based A-6 Intruder aircraft.