"Such rapid growth and change also means more possibility for wrongdoing," Gensler said. "As the cop on the beat, we must be able to meet the match of bad actors." He also described cryptocurrency markets as a "wild West" that was "rife with non-compliance," justifying regulators' recent crackdown on the crypto industry. But Gensler also portrayed the $2.46 billion request for fiscal 2024 as marking a recovery from relative dormancy under the administration of former President Donald Trump. At current levels, his agency's staffing is only 3% larger than it had been before Trump took office, he noted. However, the budget request may bear little relation to the final outcome, which will be determined by a narrowly divided Congress deadlocked over raising the federal government's borrowing limits. The SEC routinely tells lawmakers that its budget is "deficit neutral" since its spending is offset by transaction fees assessed from the market. Republican lawmakers, lobbyists and conservative activists have cast Gensler as an interventionist regulator saddling markets with left-leaning social policies unrelated to making money. Under Gensler, the commission's budget and staffing have expanded considerably, with hundreds of workers added, most notably to enforcement as well as to key divisions such as Economic Risk and Analysis that support the chairman's ambitious rule-making agenda. (Reporting by Douglas Gillison; Editing by Richard Chang)
By Douglas Gillison
March 29 (Reuters) - Wall Street's top regulator on
Wednesday asked lawmakers to approve a 12% boost to his agency's
budget, citing burgeoning growth in financial markets and the
rising risk of wrongdoing.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler
made the appeal before a panel of the House Appropriations
Committee. It was his first appearance on Capitol Hill since
Republican lawmakers, including some of his sharpest critics,
took control of the lower chamber of Congress in November.
In the last seven years, average daily trading on stock
markets has more than doubled to 77 million transactions while
the $25 trillion of gross assets managed by private money
managers now exceed the deposit base of the entire commercial
banking industry, Gensler said in prepared remarks.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.