The Debate Over Wall St. Enforcement – NYTimes.com

In October 2013, Mary Jo White, the Securities and Exchange Commission chairwoman, spoke at the Securities Enforcement Forum about a new approach based on the “broken windows” theory of enforcement in which the police pursue minor infractions to send a message about compliance with the law. “We are looking for the ‘broken windows’ in our markets,” she said, “and not overlooking the small violations to avoid breeding an environment of indifference to our rules.”

A year later, an S.E.C. commissioner, Michael S. Piwowar, appeared at the same forum, and criticized the agency’s emphasis on pursuing small cases. “If every rule is a priority, then no rule is a priority,” he said…

via The Debate Over Wall St. Enforcement – NYTimes.com