Political Quotes

“Mr. President, today I am reintroducing the Strengthening Enforcement of Civil Penalties Act or the SEC Penalties Act with my colleague, Senator Grassley. I am pleased that Senator Leahy has joined us in introducing the bill this year. The SEC Penalties Act 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, some on Wall Street continue to pursue profits at all costs, making the calculated decision to do wrong and move on. Without the consequence of meaningful penalties to impact decision- making, I fear we will continue to witness a disturbing culture of misconduct by some on Wall Street. The current 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 found out how this limitation significantly ties the hands of the SEC in performing 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 ended up settling with the SEC in an amount that was a fraction of the cost the bank had inflicted on investors and the profits the bank had ultimately pocketed.…”