Dennis Kelleher, president and CEO of Better Markets, made the following statement on the House Financial Services Committee hearing today examining the Securities and Exchange Commission’s policy to settle cases without requiring an admission of wrongdoing:

“The SEC’s current settlement policy does not deter crime or Wall Street. The agency’s vow of imposing ‘swift and certain sanctions’ deters no one because the fines are rounding errors to the big Wall Street banks. Only very large penalties and personal liability for executives will stop the crime spree that is happening on Wall Street.  That’s what the SEC needs to use its limited resources doing because that’s all that will deter Wall Street.”