“CEOs Still Dodging Bullets”

“The bottom line is that the SEC’s cases as a rule don’t include the top people “at the biggest, most powerful, politically connected banks that set the tone and the culture for the industry,” said Dennis Kelleher, chief executive of Better Markets, a nonprofit that promotes investor interests in financial regulation.”

“Since 2010, the SEC has published numbers to show what portion of its enforcement efforts were aimed at high-impact, national cases.”

“The agency’s 2015 Annual Performance Plan said that 10% of cases in fiscal 2011 were high-impact. That was followed by 20% in 2012 and 15% in 2013, according to the report. The SEC had previously reported that only 5.11% of cases in 2011 met the criteria, but revised the number after it changed its definition of “high impact” in 2012. It also dropped altogether a high-impact reading of 3.26% in 2010. The calculation for 2014 will be published in the agency’s forthcoming annual performance report, said Nester.”

“When Barack Obama nominated White to be SEC chair in January 2013, he noted that she had prosecuted terrorists and even the head of the Gambino crime family. The implied conclusion was that Obama’s nominee had what it takes to get Wall Street in line.”

“”You don’t want to mess with Mary Jo,” the president said.”

“White may indeed have scared the pants off terrorists and mobsters. But what Obama may not have considered when he made that nomination is that financial guys just don’t scare as easily.”

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Read the full article by Susan Antilla here.