SEC Chairman White Testimony on Oversight of SEC
SEC Chairman Mary Jo White delivered a testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services on behalf of the Commission regarding the recent activities of the SEC. In her testimony, which provides a fairly comprehensive description of the SEC's principal agenda items, Chairman White highlighted the work of each of the Divisions and Offices, including:
- Enforcement (she emphasized money collections, financial crisis cases, cases against markets and broker-dealers, insider trading, cases having a cross-border element "particularly in China", the publication of a guide on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and the SEC's guidance on the use of social media);
- Inspection and examination program (she discussed the scope of the examination program, with emphasis on newly registered advisers and the development of specialized staff expertise);
- Issuer disclosure and capital formation (relating primarily to various corporate finance regulations required by Dodd-Frank, such as say on pay, and the JOBS Act);
- Trading and markets oversight and rulemaking (primarily issues relating to the flash crash, derivatives, and the Volcker Rule);
- Investment management oversight and rulemaking (registration of new advisers, including Form PF, proposals in regard to money market funds, the new rule on identity theft, and guidance on valuations);
- Risk data and economic analysis (including as to the swap rules, money market funds and quant trading);
- New Commission offices (credit rating, investor advocate, office of minority and women inclusion and municipal securities);
- International affairs (cross-border insider trading and lots of meetings);
- Accounting and auditing oversight (FASB meets IASB);
- Investor education (do investors understand disclosure?);
- Internal operations (improvements in the SEC);
- Leveraging technology (using data); and
- FY 2014 budget request (asking for $1.674 billion for 676 new staff members).