“The pace of passing major financial reform rules has slowed to a crawl at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, frustrating some officials at the SEC and at other regulatory agencies who are upset by the lack of activity, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.
“While the SEC has issued numerous enforcement actions this year, the agency has made little progress on more than 40 rules on its 2014 agenda. Most of those rules stem from the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation passed in reaction to the 2008 financial crisis, and the Jobs act, which makes it easier for smaller start-ups to go public.
“’We should’ve gotten a lot of these rules done already,’ one SEC official said. ‘By delaying and delaying, someone else is winning and it’s not the people fighting for reform.’
“When Mary Jo White took over as head of the SEC more than a year ago, there was hope that the dysfunctional discord that permeated the agency under her predecessor would ease, clearing the way for more rulemaking. While Ms White has been praised for her aggressive stance on enforcement and eased tensions among commissioners, critics question why more has not been done to pass new regulations. Ms White sets priorities for the SEC and controls the agency’s calendar.”
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