Mike Levin: “here is a description of what the Levin- Nelson provision would do. First, the provision will grant the SEC…”

“here is a description of what the Levin- Nelson provision would do. First, the provision will grant the SEC administrative authority to impose civil monetary fines on any person who violates Federal securities laws. Under current law, only broker-dealers, investment advisers, and certain other persons are now subject to administrative fines by the SEC. Our legislation will allow the SEC to impose administrative fines on anyone who violates Federal securities law, including, for example, corporate officers, directors, auditors, lawyers, or publicly traded companies, none of whom are now subject to being fined by the SEC in administrative proceedings. These fines, of course, would be subject to judicial review, as are all SEC administrative determinations. Last year, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which I then chaired, conducted an extensive investigation into the collapse of Enron. As a result of that investigation, the Subcommittee determined that Enron's board of directors and officers and certain major financial institutions assisted Enron in carrying out deceptive accounting transactions and other abuses that misled investors and analysts about the company's finances.”