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Committee to Review Reforms to Improve and Enhance the SEC

| Posted in Press Releases

The Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday to examine reforms needed to improve accountability and the effectiveness of the Securities and Exchange Commission. While the agency experienced a tripling of its budget from 2000 to 2010, shortcomings and failures of the SEC came to light as the financial crisis unfolded, including the agency’s failure to detect the…

Committee looks to make SEC account for regulations’ consequences on jobs and the economy

| Posted in Member Corner

With a growing regulatory burden weighing our economy down, President Obama’s executive order #13563 issued in January was welcomed news.   That executive order requires government agencies to conduct cost-benefit analyses to ensure that the benefits of any rulemaking outweigh the costs.  It also requires that both new and existing regulations be accessible, consistent,…

Chairman Bachus Statement On Ensuring Appropriate Oversight Of Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers

| Posted in Press Releases

Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus made the following statement today during a Subcommittee hearing entitled “Ensuring Appropriate Regulatory Oversight of Broker-Dealers and Legislative Proposals to Improve Investment Adviser Oversight." "Thank you, Chairman Garrett, for convening this important hearing to examine Sections 913 and 914 of the Dodd-Frank…

Committee Continues Focus On Cyber Crime Threat To Consumers and Financial Sector

| Posted in Press Releases

WASHINGTON -The Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, will hold a hearing on Wednesday to examine the cyber security threat to the nation’s financial sector. During the hearing, the Subcommittee will examine the threats hackers pose to financial institutions and government agencies, the methods used by hackers to breach…

Subcommittee to Review Broker-Dealer Standard of Care and Reforms to Improve Investment Adviser Oversight

| Posted in Press Releases

The Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Scott Garrett, will convene for a hearing to evaluate the need for a new standard of care for broker-dealers and a legislative proposal aimed at improving the oversight of  investment advisers. Section 913 of the Dodd-Frank Act authorized but did not require the Securities and Exchange…

CQ: Obama Backs GOP Plan to Exempt Some Companies from SEC Registration

| Posted in In Case You Missed It

By Ben Weyl, CQ Staff As part of his new jobs package, President Obama endorsed a GOP proposal that would exempt smaller companies that are planning to sell public shares from registering with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In his Thursday speech, Obama said his plan would “cut away the red tape that prevents too many rapidly growing startup companies from raising capital and…

Committee Republicans Request Facts on Dodd-Frank’s Job-Threatening Regulations

| Posted in Press Releases

Republicans on the Financial Services Committee, concerned that the increasing regulatory burden is hurting job creation, are questioning Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on whether the Administration is living up to a promise it would “streamline and simplify” regulations when implementing the Dodd-Frank Act. During a news conference in the Capitol on Thursday, Committee Chairman…

New York Field Hearing Will Focus On Building A Robust Private Mortgage Market Without Taxpayer Guarantees

| Posted in Press Releases

The Financial Services Committee’s ongoing efforts to build a stronger housing finance system free of taxpayer guarantees will bring several of its members to New York City next week for a subcommittee field hearing. The Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee, which is spearheading the committee’s efforts to end the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, will…

Subcommittee Meets in NYC to Evaluate U.S. Efforts Against Terrorist Financing

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The Financial Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee will meet in New York City on September 6 to evaluate the federal government’s efforts to track down and stop the financing of terrorists. As part of the government’s response to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, Congress created the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence within the Treasury Department. …

The Need for Fundamental S.E.C. Reform

| Posted in In Case You Missed It

By David Hirschmann Earlier this month, former S.E.C Chairman Arthur Levitt published an Op-Ed piece in The New York Times, entitled “Don’t Gut the S.E.C.”  Mr. Levitt sees only two approaches to regulatory reform when it comes to his former agency: on the one hand, retaining the status quo, or, on the other hand, in his words, “gutting” or “eviscerating” the agency.  We are…