The US Chamber of Chamber agrees with the goal of the SEC Modernization Act of 2011, introduced by Financial Services Committee Chair Spencer Bachus (R-ALA) to bring about transformative change to establish even handed and effective regulation to ensure that U.S. capital markets are competitive in a global economy. However, in a letter to Chairman Bachus, the Chamber said that the legislation could be improved to promote the nimbleness of the SEC in an ever changing financial market.
The Chamber urged the Chairman and the Committee to change the legislation to outline in the measure a series of principles and objectives for the SEC to achieve, such as a defined chain of command, elimination of regulatory silos and improved coordination and communications amongst divisions, and a defined regulatory plan to promote market efficiency and capital formation. The SEC should also be statutorily directed, within a specified period of time, to present a reorganization plan for Congressional review, consistent with Congressional oversight responsibilities and the long-established process for review of agency reprogramming requests. In the Chamber's view, these changes would put the onus on the SEC to reorganize itself with Congressional oversight, and overcome an organization resistant to change. A holistic reorganization could also be mandated to reoccur over specified time horizons.