Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today made the following comment on the news that Mary Schapiro will step down as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission next month.
"The SEC has proposed some weak settlements with Wall Street firms, including one that a judge called 'chump change.' The SEC has to crack down harder, especially on repeat offenders. I have some sympathy for the idea that current law limits the agency's enforcement abilities, as Chairman Schapiro has said, although the SEC also hasn't always used its existing penalties to the fullest. To remove barriers to strong enforcement, Sen. Reed and I introduced legislation to increase the SEC's penalties. I'll pursue that in the next Congress. Chairman Schapiro supported the SEC whistleblower provisions that I helped to develop, although the implementing regulations have been problematic. I'll continue to ride herd over the agency in getting the whistleblower office going. It's disappointing that Chairman Schapiro is leaving the commission without having a permanent inspector general in place, since her departure may delay the commission in filling that important position even further. The SEC, like any agency, benefits from a strong, independent inspector general. The sooner the recent turmoil in the inspector general's office is overcome, the better for the agency and the investing public."
