Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the Stronger Enforcement of Civil Penalties Act, which I am pleased to be introducing today with Senator Grassley and Senator Leahy, will enhance the ability of securities regulators to protect investors and demand greater accountability from market players. Unfortunately, even after the financial crisis that crippled the economy, we continue to see calculated wrongdoing by some on Wall Street. Without the consequence of meaningful penalties to serve as an effective deterrent, I fear this disturbing culture of misconduct will persist. The existing regime for securities law violations limits by statute the amount of penalties the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, can fine an institution or individual. During hearings I held in 2011 in the Securities, Insurance, and Investment Banking Subcommittee, I learned how this limitation significantly interferes with the SEC's ability to perform its enforcement duties. At that time, the agency had been criticized by a Federal judge for not obtaining a larger settlement against Citigroup, a major player in the financial crisis that settled with the SEC in an amount that was a fraction of the cost the bank had inflicted on investors. The SEC explained that the reason for the low settlement amount was a statutory prohibition from levying a larger penalty. The bipartisan bill Senator Grassley and I are introducing updates and strengthens the SEC's civil penalties statute.…”