financialservices.house.gov

Cmte Financial Services (R)
Contact:



Bachus: Report Reveals Dodd-Frank Act Includes Buried Provision Permitting Failed Regulators to Evade Public Oversight and Transparency


WASHINGTON, Jul 28 -

– Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Spencer Bachus today said Democrats must be held accountable and fix a hidden provision in the 2,300 page Dodd Frank Act that protects the failed regulators at the heart of the financial crisis by denying transparency and public oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“The SEC failed to supervise undue risk taking, leading to the meltdown of Bear Stearns and Lehman, and completely missed the Madoff and Stanford Ponzi schemes that led to the financial ruin of thousands of Americans.  These failures even prompted Chairwoman Mary Schapiro to concede that the SEC’s supervision of the investment banks was ‘flawed in design and execution.’ 

“The SEC permitted the investment banks to escape supervision, but we cannot let the failed regulators evade oversight from the taxpayers. Instead of holding these regulatory agencies accountable for their failures, the Democrats’ so-called Wall Street reform bill quietly rewards them with even more authority and discretion.

“The provision in question, like many contained in the 2,300 page Dodd-Frank and in particular Title IX, was never the subject of discussion during the conference committee or an SEC oversight hearing, which have been woefully lacking since the Obama Administration came to power last year. 

“The public has a right to know what the SEC has learned through its oversight of regulated entities and to analyze the SEC's conclusions, and it’s up to the Democrats to make this right.”

###