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SEC Inspector General

Current, Former SEC Officials to Testify Before FCIC

Melissa Aguilar May 04, 2010

Current and former Securities and Exchange Commission officials are among those scheduled to testify this week before the panel investigating the causes of the financial crisis.SEC Inspector General H. David Kotz, former Commissioners Christopher Cox and William Donaldson, and former Trading & Markets Division Director Erik Sirri are slated to...

OIG Issues Recs to Overhaul SEC Bounty Program

Melissa Aguilar April 02, 2010

The Securities and Exchange Commission's bounty program for rewarding whistleblowers is sorely in need of an overhaul, according to the agency's Inspector General, which issued nine recommendations for improving the program.An OIG review of the program, which stemmed from an issue identified during its investigation of the SEC Madoff examination...

Proposed Budget May Mean SEC Gets $1.258B, Adds Staff

Melissa Aguilar February 01, 2010

The President's budget request of $1.258 billion for the Securities and Exchange Commission for fiscal 2011 would increase the Commission's coffers by roughly $139 million, or 12 percent over its fiscal 2010 funding level, and would enable the agency to add about 380 staff positions.That's according to the report, Congressional...

OIG Report: SEC's OCIE Needs an Overhaul Too

Melissa Aguilar September 30, 2009

The Securities and Exchange Commission's Enforcement Division isn't the only SEC unit in need of an overhaul post-Madoff. That's according to yet another blistering Inspector General report released this week.The report, based on a review by FTI Consulting, makes 37 recommendations for improving the operations of the agency's Office of...

OIG Report: Enforcement Program Improvements

Melissa Aguilar September 29, 2009

Following the release of its scathing report on its investigation into the Securities and Exchange Commission's failure to uncover the Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Bernard Madoff, the SEC Inspector General has issued a report detailing 21 recommendations to improve the agency's enforcement program.The report, released Sept. 29, was based in part on...

Up Next on the Hill: Improving SEC Performance

Melissa Aguilar September 08, 2009

The fallout from the Madoff debacle continues, as Senate lawmakers seek input on how to improve the performance of the Securities and Exchange Commission in the aftermath of the agency's now well-documented failure to fully examine Bernard Madoff and his firm for operating a Ponzi scheme, despite ample tips and complaints over...

SEC IG Offers Reform Ideas to Congress

Melissa Aguilar July 02, 2009

The Securities and Exchange Commission's Inspector General offered lawmakers some ideas for revamping the federal securities laws, including extending the regulatory jurisdiction of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and amending the Investment Advisers Act to require the use of independent custodians by investment advisers and hedge funds.The recommendations, detailed...

Congress Prods SEC IG to Issue Madoff Findings

Melissa Aguilar June 17, 2009

The Securities and Exchange Commission's independent watchdog soon plans to issue three reports related to its investigation into allegations regarding Bernard Madoff and his firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities—but apparently not soon enough for some members of Congress.In response to prodding by House lawmakers, the SEC's Inspector General said...

OIG Recommends Action on Reg D Issues, Form D Changes

Melissa Aguilar April 03, 2009

The Securities and Exchange Commission should take steps to better ensure compliance with Regulation D, to act when it finds non-compliance, and should make better use of Form D information.That’s according to a March 31 report by the SEC’s Office of Inspector General, which reviewed Corporation Finance’s process for assessing...

Madoff Whistleblower Blasts SEC Inaction

Melissa Aguilar February 04, 2009

The whistleblower credited with repeatedly tipping off the Securities and Exchange Commission over the last nine years about the alleged multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme involving Bernard Madoff publicly blasted the agency as “over-lawyered” and captive to the industry it regulates.Harry Markopolos, the whistleblower who provided the SEC with findings of...

Cox Calls It Quits

Melissa Aguilar January 21, 2009

The Securities and Exchange Commission has confirmed that, as expected, chairman Christopher Cox, resigned yesterday as President Obama took office.Cox’s departure was confirmed by SEC spokesman John Nester.On Wednesday evening, President Obama appointed commissioner Elisse Walter as acting Chairman.Obama has nominated veteran securities industry regulator Mary Schapiro to serve as...

Senate Probes SEC, FINRA Performance in Madoff Fraud

Melissa Aguilar January 09, 2009

The Securities and Exchange Commission, already under investigation by its own watchdog for its alleged failures in the Bernie Madoff scandal, is now also under examination by the Senate Banking Committee.Leaders of the Senate banking Committee, which has jurisdiction over the SEC, informed chairman Christopher Cox in a Jan. 5...

SEC IG: Probe to Include Broader Look At SEC Procedures

Melissa Aguilar January 06, 2009

The head of the watchdog body probing the Securities and Exchange Commission’s handling of the case involving Wall Street money manager Bernard Madoff says his review will go beyond recommendations related specifically to that case to look more broadly at the agency’s operations.During testimony before House lawmakers on Capitol Hill...

Obama Taps Mary Schapiro as Next SEC Chair

Melissa Aguilar December 18, 2008

As expected, president-elect Barack Obama has named regulatory veteran Mary Schapiro, chief executive of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, as his pick to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission.Prior to taking the helm of FINRA, the self regulatory organization formed by the 2007 merger of the regulatory arms of the...

Cox Seeks IG Investigation Into Madoff Case

Melissa Aguilar December 17, 2008

The news surrounding influential Wall Street money manager and former Nasdaq Stock Market chairman Bernard Madoff keeps getting worse.Acknowledging that the agency failed, for nearly a decade, to fully investigate allegations against the high-profile money manager now charged with securities fraud in a multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme, Securities and Exchange...

Reports Blast SEC on Risk-Assessment Programs

Melissa Aguilar September 29, 2008

The Securities and Exchange Commission, already under fire by critics who've questioned the agency’s actions amid the U.S. financial market meltdown, is under fresh criticism in two reports that blast the agency’s oversight of investment bank holding companies and broker-dealers subject to its risk-assessment program.The publication of the reports by...

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