Thursday, September 15, 2011

Senate Appropriators Increase SEC FY2012 Budget by 19 Percent, Setting Up Battle with House

A Senate Appropriations Committee subcommittee on financial services produced legislation increasing the SEC's FY 2012 budget by 19 percent to enable the SEC to fulfill its mission to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation. This funding, fully offset by collection of securities transaction fees, supports increased legal and investigative staffing for oversight and enforcement responsibilities including significant new mandates under the Dodd-Frank Act. This sets up a battle with House appropriators, who essentially froze the SEC's budget at FY 2011 levels

The Senate bill also provides $240 million, an increase of $37.7 million (18%) over the FY11 enacted level, to enable the CFTC to fulfill its mission to protect futures markets from fraud, manipulation, and abusive practices and foster open, competitive, and financially sound markets. The increase supports staffing increases and IT enhancements to meet significantly expanded responsibilities in implementing mandates under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law including regulation and oversight of trading and clearance of over-the-counter derivatives.