CNBC Looks at POGO's New SEC Report

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February 11, 2013

POGO's report was featured on CNBC's show Street Signs

Continuing the coverage of the Project On Government Oversight's new report on the revolving door at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), CNBC had a great segment on the report and added their own thoughts about what's keeping the SEC from effectively regulating the finance industry.

In the accompanying article, CNBC breaks down a central case study in POGO's report about how the revolving door worked to end increased regulation of the money market funds.

...a "case study" is the failed effort by former SEC chairwoman Mary Schapiro to regulate money market mutual funds, which she had said were "working without a net." Nonetheless, Schapiro dropped the effort in August following heavy opposition by the industry.

Among those lobbying against the change, according to disclosures: an army of former SEC officials. They included a former counsel, Justin Daly; Karrie McMillan who worked in the SEC division that oversees money market funds, and Susan Ferris Wyderko, a former top official in the SEC's Division of Investment Management who went on to become president of the Mutual Fund Directors Forum, an industry group.

Schapiro dropped the money market crackdown when it became clear three of the five SEC commissioners would vote against it. Among the commissioners who opposed it: Democrat Luis Aguilar, who previously worked on Wall Street at money management firm Invesco, which the report said personally lobbied Aguilar to oppose the plan.

The Huffington Post also covered the release of the report and quoted Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who called for increased transparency and conflict of interest rules before the new chairman of the SEC is confirmed. President Obama's nominee is Mary Jo White, a tough prosecutor who has also defended major Wall Street banks.

Sen. Grassley said:

She’d need to operate under strict rules while at the commission and afterward if she returns to the private sector, and so should everyone else. Policing the revolving door is important to the integrity of rule-making and enforcement.

For more from Huffington Post, check out their roundtable discussion on the revolving door.

Topics: Financial Sector

Related Content: Conflicts of Interest, Financial Oversight, Open Government, Revolving Door, Securities and Exchange Commission, Videos

Authors: Andre Francisco

Project On Government Oversight (POGO)

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Founded in 1981, the Project On Government Oversight is a nonpartisan independent watchdog that champions good government reforms. POGO’s investigations into corruption, misconduct, and conflicts of interest achieve a more effective, accountable, open, and ethical federal government.