Questions for the General Counsel of the Securities and Exchange Commission
The General Counsel of the Securities and Exchange Commission is slated to testify before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday June 22, 2023. Here are some questions Members could ask:
Does any statute restrict the President’s power to remove a commissioner of the SEC.
If so, please identify the statute.
What are the specific sections of the Securities Act and the Securities Exchange Act that authorized the SEC to propose the climate-change disclosure rules?
How are the proposed climate-change disclosure rules “necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors” and how will they promote efficiency and capital formation when the current Regulations S-K and S-X already require nearly all the proposed disclosures relevant to a disclosing issuer?
Would you favor or oppose transferring all of the SEC’s adjudication authority in enforcement cases to federal district courts? Why?
When the SEC settles an enforcement case, what statute authorizes the SEC to impose civil penalties higher than the amounts in the three tiers or the gross amount of the defendant’s pecuniary gain?
The securities laws permit a civil penalty for each “violation” or each prohibited “act or omission.” How does the SEC define each violation or each prohibited act when deciding on the amount of civil penalty to request?
Has the SEC considered its approach to civil penalties in light of the reasoning in Bittner v. United States, 589 U.S. 85 (2023). If so, please send that analysis to us. What did the SEC conclude about the way it should define a violation or prohibited act.