SEC Chair: JOBS Act a Priority, but SEC Needs More Money

Washington, D.C. – May 7, 2013 – Mary Jo White made her first appearance on Capitol Hill today as the new chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission and urged members of a House panel  to approve a new budget that would enable the SEC to move swiftly on making rules under the JOBS Act and other laws.  Ms. White testified today before the Financial Services subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations seeking approval of a $1.674 Million budget.

SEC Chair Mary Jo White. Courtesy Securities and Exchange Commission

SEC Chair Mary Jo White. Courtesy Securities and Exchange Commission

In her testimony, Ms. White said rules under the JOBS Act and the Dodd-Frank Act are a priority. “First, the SEC must complete, swiftly and thoughtfully, the rulemaking mandates contained in the Dodd-Frank Act and JOBS Act, ” said Ms. White. “The JOBS Act requires significant Commission rulemaking which has not yet been completed.  To fulfill these legislative mandates expeditiously must be an immediate imperative for the commission.  In connection with those rules, I will continue the Commission’s efforts to ensure that the SEC performs robust economic analysis, as rigorous economic analysis is important and should inform and help guide our decisions.”

“As you know, the SEC has a broad, three-part mission: to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation,” Ms. White testified before the committee. A copy of her testimony can be reviewed here.

Ms. White said the budget request would enable the SEC to bring in more economists to perform economic and risk analyses to assist in all of our rulemaking decisions, as well as support new technology for a municipal advisor registration system. ”The FY 2014 budget request – all of which would be fully offset by matching collections of fees on securities transactions and thus will not increase the Federal budget deficit – seeks to address these challenges directly, to better position the agency to provide the kind of market oversight that the public expects and deserves.”

Article by A. Brian Dengler. Mr. Dengler is an information technology and digital media attorney and instructor at Kent State University.