Don’t Let the SEC Punish Too Harshly – Bloomberg View

The ink is barely dry on the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial-reform law, but Congress is already considering new legislation that would grant the Securities and Exchange Commission its latest wish list of much higher financial penalties, especially against recidivists….

There is scant evidence that increasing penalties again would improve deterrence or financial compliance, but that is a secondary concern with the bill. More troubling is that Congress is incrementally blurring the line between civil regulatory enforcement and criminal punishment, reflecting an eerie indifference to due process and the proper constitutional allocation of law-enforcement responsibility.

via Don’t Let the SEC Punish Too Harshly – Bloomberg View