Schapiro Defends Inaction at SEC
February 17, 2010
When Mary Schapiro took office as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission last year, she faced a myriad of issues related to the financial crisis—and outlined a series of new regulations that, so far, have come up short, The Washington Post reports.
So far, there have been no limits on short selling from driving down stocks during periods of market volatility. No new regulations to tamp down overly risky financial products or better control capital markets. No new proxy rules to enable shareholders to nominate directors. No overhaul of credit ratings to make sure they are accurate and free of conflicts of interest. No curbs on referral fees to consultants to state pension plans. Not to mention--no restrictions on mutual fund 12b-1 fees or more transparency on 401(k) fees.
In fact, the new, complex money fund rules restricting the risks they can take and increasing their transparency to investors is among the SEC’s few accomplishments under Schapiro. That, along with the new investment advisor custody rule, sparked by the Bernard Madoff scandal, along with the disclosure of pay practices and their effects on excessive risk-taking.
Nonetheless, she defended her track record to The Post, saying, “It can take more time than one might have thought at the outset. We have to understand the real-life implications of what we’re doing, the unintended consequences. We need to digest all the comments and all the economic analysis.”
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