“Wall Street’s watchdogs are looking at just a meager budget boost under the latest spending bill, well below what the president says they need to fulfill their expanded duties.

“As part of the $1 trillion omnibus bill unveiled Monday evening, two Wall Street regulators would receive slim increases to their funding, as they grapple with expanded workloads under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law.

“The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, charged with regulating for the first-time a financial derivatives marketplace running trillions of dollars, would receive a 9.3 percent boost, or $20 million, to bring its funding up to $215 million.

“Advocates of Wall Street reform were furious when the package was revealed, saying those budgets are setting the agencies up to fail.

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“Dennis Kelleher, president and CEO of the reform advocacy group Better Markets, pointed out that both of these agencies bring in far more in fines and settlements than they cost the taxpayer. Furthermore, the SEC’s budget actually does not add to the deficit, since it collects its funds from fees assessed on the financial industry.”

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Read full The Hill article here