The Securities and Exchange Commission told lawmakers Monday that it will need additional funding and that it will take several years to fully implement more than a dozen recommendations of ways that the agency could become a more efficient securities regulator.
In a status update to Congress, the SEC said staff members have spent the past six months conducting an initial review of 16 recommendations to optimize the agency included in a March study conducted by the Boston Consulting Group. The study was mandated by last year's Dodd-Frank law.
But it will take staff at least another six months to recommend "what, if any, actions should be taken" by commissioners as they weigh a "multiyear change initiative."
The Boston Consulting study said generally that the agency could improve efficiency, but that it will still need about 400 more people to fulfill its new responsibilities under Dodd-Frank, which include the regulation of over-the-counter derivatives and hedge fund advisors as well as enhanced oversight of credit rating companies and authority to adopt a uniform standard of care for investment advisors and broker-dealers.
The study included recommendations that the SEC reprioritize regulatory activities, reshape its organizational structure and seek congressional flexibility for new offices mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act.
