Reply #114: Group calls for study of 'punitive' SEC enforcement

[UpInArms]

What? These folks just figured out that they are funding all that government "regulation" that keeps them paying those fees and fines?

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7BD485B7AC%2DD0C8%2D4213%2DA016%2D5B82E0780B3C%7D&dist=newsfinder&symbol=&siteid=mktw

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- A leading business group is calling for the Securities and Exchange Commission to study whether its enforcement process and practices are too harsh, and to make changes where appropriate.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents more than three million companies, complains the SEC's long-vaunted enforcement program is pursuing some cases it shouldn't and has "taken on an increasingly punitive tone."

The business group issued a report Thursday containing more than a dozen recommendations on SEC enforcement, which it says seems "more adversarial and less objective" than in the past, and focused on imposing stiff fines on companies and individuals.

Basic legal protections are being threatened as companies under SEC investigation feel "intense pressure" to waive attorney-client privilege and work-product protections, the report states. The chamber said executives feel if they resist, they won't receive credit for cooperating with investigators, and it urged the SEC to clarify that such waivers aren't required for companies to be deemed to be cooperative.

Lack of cooperation can be costly: Banc of America Securities was fined $10 million in 2004 for failing to produce documents quickly to regulators, an action then-SEC enforcement director Stephen Cutler said sprang entirely from its "uncooperative conduct" during the probe, according to the report. The chamber called for an end to such penalties.

...more...

back to that chart - where's that money coming from :eyes: