New bill would restore transparency to SEC
Transparency took a big hit when the Securities and Exchange Commission was exempted from disclosing public information in the recent government takeover of banks. The provision gives the SEC power to deny Freedom of Information Act requests.
But there is good news today out of Washington, where four Senators have put in a bill to strike down that provision and restore transparency (as much as there was anyways) to the SEC. Democrat Senators Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Ted Kaufman, D-Del. joined with Republican Senators Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa and John Cornyn, R-Texas to introduce the legislation that will remove the SEC FOIA provision.
This is a big deal and it’s good to see we have at least a few politicians who understand that transparency is key to a free society. Now let’s hope that our good Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins will support this bill as it works its way through the Senate.
It’s too bad they didn’t notice it, and oppose it, in the original “Financial Reform” bill.