Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, joined by Representative Carolyn Maloney and 51 other Members of Congress, has released a letter to key Members of the House Committee on Appropriations calling for full funding of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) at the amount requested by the Obama administration for fiscal year 2014.

The SEC is responsible for ensuring that the nation’s capital markets are fair, orderly and efficient, and that investors participating in these markets are well-protected. The commission currently oversees 35,000 market participants including broker-dealers and investment advisers. It reviews the disclosures and financial statements of 9,500 public companies and regulates the securities exchanges, clearing agencies, credit rating agencies, and several self-regulatory organizations.

Additionally, in enacting the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, Congress gave important new responsibilities to the SEC for regulating key portions of the market for credit default swaps, financial instruments which helped destabilize markets during the financial crisis.   

The SEC recoups its appropriation through transaction fees and therefore has an entirely neutral impact on the federal deficit. However, funding for the agency has not kept pace with its broader responsibilities.

“Given the critical functions delegated to the SEC and the importance of functioning capital markets to the U.S. economy,” states the Waters-Maloney letter, “we believe it is essential to fully fund the agency at its requested level of $1.674 billion.”

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