SEC Asks Congress for More Power to Police Wall Street

WASHINGTON — Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Richard C. Breeden today asked Congress to give the agency a bigger stick for policing Wall Street.

In testimony before a Senate panel, Breeden asked for the power to fine securities-law violators. Currently the SEC can only impose fines in insider-trading cases, unlike most federal financial regulators.

Breeden also asked Congress to give the SEC access to grand jury testimony in criminal securities investigations. He noted that often SEC lawyers work side by side with the Justice Department in criminal investigations such as the Ivan Boesky insider-trading scandal.

But under current law, the SEC may not be given access to secret grand jury testimony “even when the information was developed by our own personnel,” Breeden said. He added that the SEC can’t get a look at criminal grand jury proceedings “even after the criminal process is completed.”