Wall Street’s top regulator on Friday brought in $218 million in fines, roughly equal to 10% of its latest annual budget….
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The Securities and Exchange Commission closed out its fiscal year with a surge of civil-enforcement actions, a regular year-end occurrence for a regulator that measures its impact by the fines it levies. But most of the SEC’s fines are sent to America’s checking account, the general fund of the U.S. Treasury Department.
The SEC can’t hold onto penalties to fund its operations, despite what some critics of its current enforcement bent believe. The SEC’s fines have risen steeply under SEC Chair Gary Gensler, whose top staff insists higher fines are needed to discourage a pattern of regulatory lawbreaking. Last year, Gensler’s enforcement division made a record haul—$6.4 billion.
Source: SEC Brings in $218 Million in a Day but Still Faces Shutdown – WSJ
