Anna Eshoo: “I offer this amendment to improve the standard by which H.R. 1058 determines if a person has acted recklessly in…”

“I offer this amendment to improve the standard by which H.R. 1058 determines if a person has acted recklessly in misleading buyers or sellers of securities. Protecting against reckless conduct is critical in securities law because in the world of finance there is ample opportunity to mislead investors with recklessly fraudulent statements. My amendment is an effort to improve H.R. 1058 in this critical area. H.R. 1058 has many solid and much needed legal reforms. And as several of my colleagues mentioned yesterday, we should have had legislation on this issue before this House long before today. It is needed, and it is overdue. However, Mr. Chairman, the bill before us is seriously deficient when it comes to recklessness--not so much by what is missing, but by what has been added. My amendment protects the recklessness standard by striking the sentence which allows the defendant to escape liability by saying, 'Your honor, I forgot to disclose that important fact to the customer.' In other words, I forgot to tell the truth.”