SEC Chairman Walter Delivers Speech before the Senate Banking Committee (with Lofche Comment)
SEC Chairman Elisse B. Walter delivered a speech on the Commission's Dodd-Frank Act activities thus far, emphasizing the accomplishments over the past year. The main topics covered in her testimony include:
- Hedge Fund and Other Private Fund Adviser Registration and Reporting;
- Whistleblower Program;
- OTC Derivatives;
- Clearing Agencies;
- Staff Studies Regarding Investment Advisers and Broker-Dealers;
- Credit Rating Agencies;
- Volcker Rule;
- Municipal Advisors;
- Asset-Backed Securities;
- Corporate Governance and Executive Compensation;
- Specialized Disclosure Provisions;
- Exempt Offerings;
- Financial Stability Oversight Council;
- New Commission Offices;
- Economic Analysis;
- Section 967 Organizational Assessment; and
- Funding for Implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act.
Lofchie Comment: Compare the SEC's discussion of the approach it is taking to the implementation of derivatives rules and the adoption of a cross-border derivatives regime (pages 7-9 of the testimony) with the approach of the CFTC. These two regulators' approaches have been diametrically opposed: the SEC's has been measured and the CFTC's has been accelerated (and then jerked to a halt with no-action letters). Given the completely different approaches that the two regulators have taken, it is easy to see that one of the two approaches works better than the other, and thus serves as a better model going forward. The comparison of these two approaches seems like a good topic for a GAO study.
View testimony in full here (links externally to Senate Banking Committee website).Related News Item: Senate Banking Committee Hearing: "Wall Street Reform - Oversight of Financial Stability and Consumer and Investor Protections" (with Video and Highlights); FRB, OCC, FDIC, CFPB and Treasury Testify before the Senate Banking Committee; and CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler Delivers Speech before the Senate Banking Committee.