Mary L. Schapiro: “Investor protection is the foundation upon which all our responsibilities are built.”

The $1.4 billion that we are requesting will allow us to adequately staff the SEC to fulfill our core mission of protecting investors.

No. We should not guarantee that nobody fails. We should allow institutions to fail.

Thanks to the strong support that this subcommittee has provided, the SEC has begun to rebuild that confidence by making needed and significant changes to virtually every aspect of our operations.

Do I wish now that he had been more sensitive to the potential of this issue to raise an appearance of conflict? Yes.