SEC's Cox Says FY08 Budget Enough To Safeguard Investors
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
March 27, 2007 1:22 p.m.
By Judith Burns
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The Bush administration's plan for a 2.7% increase in the Securities and Exchange Commission budget in the upcoming fiscal year is enough to allow the SEC to "solidly execute" its mission of protecting investors, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox told lawmakers Tuesday.
In testimony to a House appropriations subcommittee, the SEC chairman said he's confident the $905.3 million budget proposed by the Bush administration will suffice for fiscal 2008, which starts Oct. 1.
Although the SEC has fewer staff now than in 2005, Cox noted that it is 21% larger than it was five years ago, thanks to hefty increases in its annual budget in the wake of corporate accounting scandals.
Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., who chairs the appropriations subcommittee that oversees the SEC's budget, questioned whether the administration's proposed spending will be enough to combat abuses and market manipulation, while Republicans focused on whether U.S. regulations are forcing companies to go private or list shares overseas.
On the budget question, Cox suggested that certainty of funding would be as helpful as additional cash, noting that congressional delays in adopting a fiscal 2007 budget meant the SEC held back spending millions this year, which will be rolled into its fiscal 2008 budget.
Regarding regulatory burdens, Cox reiterated his view that Congress should not revisit the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which cracked down on corporate accounting, saying it has had "enduring benefits" for U.S. investors. He said officials at the SEC and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board are making changes to one part of the law that has been a sticking point, and will roll out a new standard for auditing internal corporate financial reporting controls this summer.
Once audit standards can be applied in a cost-effective way, Cox said there's no reason why smaller firms shouldn't be able to comply with the annual review and audit of their internal financial reporting controls, as Congress ordered in 2002.
Cox said other priorities for the SEC include investigating possible insider trading by hedge funds, and acting on a proposal to tighten financial requirements for those who invest in hedge funds, which are private investment pools intended for wealthy individuals and institutional investors.
Closer scrutiny of accounting and disclosure by subprime lenders is another concern, according to Cox. If investors in mortgage pools backed by riskier loans to "subprime" borrowers were defrauded, the SEC chief said, "we want to be there as enforcers."
New congressionally mandated oversight of credit rating agencies by the SEC and combating abusive "naked" short selling are other areas where the SEC is focusing, according to Cox. He called the SEC's past efforts to address short-selling abuses "inadequate" since some pre-exisiting short sales were exempted from stricter rules by a "grandfather" clause, and said ending the exemption "will further tighten" short sales and help eliminate abuses. Short selling, which is legal, involves sales of borrowed shares in hopes of replacing them later at a lower price. Naked short selling occurs when shares are sold without being borrowed.
-By Judith Burns, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6692; judith.burns@dowjones.com
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