The House Questions the SEC’s Worth

As reported yesterday by Securities Law 360, the House of Representatives, voting along party lines, decided not to approve an amendment that would substantially increase the SEC’s budget for 2013.  Specifically, “Republican committee members argued that recent financial scandals had proven the SEC had not done an adequate job and did not deserve the level of funding requested by the White House.”  Democrats supporting the budget request argued that the SEC’s lack of proficiency stemmed from its lack of funds and that, “you don’t make an agency more proficient by starving it.” Democratic Representative Barney Frank, who introduced the proposed amendment to the SEC’s budget, asserted that the SEC needs the funds to properly enforce the new Dodd-Frank regulations.  Meanwhile the SEC defended its record “noting that the SEC had filed a record 735 enforcement actions in fiscal year 2011, winning more than $2.8 billion in penalties and disgorgement.”  To read SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro’s testimony before the Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government Committee on Appropriations United States House of Representatives, click here.