Political Quotes

“Mr. President, today I am reintroducing the Stronger Enforcement of Civil Penalties Act along with Senator Grassley and Senator Leahy. This bill will help securities regulators better protect investors and demand greater accountability from market players. Even after a financial crisis that devastated our nation's economy, we continue to see calculated wrongdoing by some on Wall Street, and without the consequence of meaningful penalties to serve as an effective deterrent, I worry this disturbing culture of misconduct will persist. Today, the amount of penalties the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) can fine an institution or individual is restricted by statute. During hearings I held in 2011 as Chairman of the Banking Committee's Securities, Insurance, and Investment Subcommittee, I learned how this limitation significantly interferes with the SEC's ability to perform its enforcement duties. At that time, a Federal judge had criticized the SEC for not obtaining a larger settlement against Citigroup, a major player in the financial crisis that settled with the agency in an amount that was far below the cost the bank had inflicted on investors. The SEC explained that a statutory prohibition against levying a larger penalty led to the low settlement amount. Indeed, then SEC Chairman Mary L.…”