If the Rottweiler guarding your property is anything like the SEC, I hope you set your house alarm.
As the WSJ Law Blog pointed out today, the SEC’s deadline to finalize Dodd-Frank Whistleblower rules has come and gone without a peep from the Commission. So much for its bite being worse than its bark. If the Rottweiler guarding your property is anything like the SEC, I hope you set your house alarm.
The SEC’s website has subtly shifted its schedule to allow an extra three months for rulemaking—and there is no reason to trust that adjustment either. Commission defenders will point to the extensive rulemaking required and the tight government budget; I would point to the nine months originally allotted and immense importance of the rule finalization.
The Journal quotes SEC spokesman John Nester, who defends the Commission’s desire to emphasize “getting the rules right.” Thanks, John. “Right” entails “on time”; otherwise even more doubt as to the Commission’s commitment to the rules will arise. Main Street has seen decades of supposed third-party regulators bow at the feet of well-paid lobbyists and executives. The SEC was supposed to champion a major step forward this week; instead, they have amplified the doubt many have in their ability to effectively regulate and enforce.
I may be the only one, but I believe the SEC will get things together soon and finalize a robust and clear set of rules for Dodd-Frank’s whistleblower provisions. However, delays like this undermine the bill and allow the Wall Street-centric status quo to continue. As each day passes, Americans forget the reasons for the economic catastrophe—some of which were corporate corruption and lack of business oversight. Dodd-Frank’s whistleblowers have a chance to cheaply and efficiently remedy this problem from the inside.
As is true of too many government regulations, the conclusion is yet to be written on this one. Let’s just hope the humid DC summer doesn’t pass without seeing these rules finalized.
Assisted by David Martin