The Securities and ExchangeCommission's (SEC) Division ofEnforcement (Enforcement) playsa key role in meeting the agency'sresponsibility to enforce securitieslaws and regulations. WhileEnforcement has brought a numberof high-profile cases, questionshave been raised over howeffectively the division manages itsoperations and resources. Forexample, GAO has previouslyreported on challengesEnforcement faces in managing itsinvestigation information systemsand overseeing the Fair Fundprogram. Under this program,funds are distributed to investorswho have suffered losses resultingfrom securities fraud and otherviolations.GAO was asked to evaluateEnforcement's (1) investigationplanning and information systems,and (2) oversight of the Fair Fundprogram.Among other things, GAO analyzedSEC and Enforcement documentsand data and interviewed agencyofficials as well as consultantsinvolved in administering the FairFund program.

The SEC Div. of Enforcement (Enforcement) plays a key role in meeting the agency's mission to protect investors and maintain fair and orderly markets. In recent years, Enforcement has brought cases yielding record civil penalties, but questions have been raised about its capacity to manage its resources and fulfill its law enforcement and investor protection responsibilities. This report evaluates: (1) SEC's progress toward implementing previous recommendations; (2) the extent to which Enforcement has an appropriate mix of resources dedicated to achieving its objectives; and (3) the adoption, implementation, and effects of recent penalty policies. Includes recommendations. Charts and tables.

SEC may order civil monetary penalties and seek ill-gotten financial gains, or disgorgement, from individuals who violate fed. securities laws and regulations. In 2002, Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which established numerous reforms to increase investor protection, including Sect. 308(a), the Fed. Account for Investor Restitution provision. This provision allows SEC to combine civil monetary penalties and other donations to disgorgement funds for the benefit of investors who suffer losses resulting from fraud or other securities violations. This report examines: (1) the status of Fair Fund collections and distributions; and (2) the actions that SEC has taken to address previous recommend. Illus. This is a print on demand report.

Regulatory Breakdown: The Crisis of Confidence in U.S. Regulation brings fresh insight and analytic rigor to what has become one of the most contested domains of American domestic politics. Critics from the left blame lax regulation for the housing meltdown and financial crisis—not to mention major public health disasters ranging from the Gulf Coast oil spill to the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion. At the same time, critics on the right disparage an excessively strict and costly regulatory system for hampering economic recovery. With such polarized accounts of regulation and its performance, the nation needs now more than ever the kind of dispassionate, rigorous scholarship found in this book. With chapters written by some of the nation's foremost economists, political scientists, and legal scholars, Regulatory Breakdown brings clarity to the heated debate over regulation by dissecting the disparate causes of the current crisis as well as analyzing promising solutions to what ails the U.S. regulatory system. This volume shows policymakers, researchers, and the public why they need to question conventional wisdom about regulation—whether from the left or the right—and demonstrates the value of undertaking systematic analysis before adopting policy reforms in the wake of disaster.