SEC 主席离职：华尔街知道她狠，但没想到竟然会这样......
SEC 主席离职
她严惩华尔街
开134亿美元罚单、
惩3300家公司和2700名高管
违规者低头认错
知道她狠，但没想到竟然会这么狠......
2016年11月14日，SEC新闻公告，美国第31任SEC 主席 Mary Jo White ( 怀特女士）将离职，结束其在奥巴马总统执政期间的任职。怀特女士于2013年4月份出任SEC 主席职务，在她任职的三年多期间，贡献杰出，除了大力推进Dodd-Frank Act 法案和JOBS Act法案之外， 在监管执法行动领域，推行激进和创新的方式( aggressive and inovative approach), 有几点更是十分耀眼：
三年多来，SEC 累计开出了超过134亿美元的罚单（这些罚款收入大部分返还给投资者）；
三年多来， SEC 调查了2850起执法案件；
三年多来，SEC 共对超过3300家公司进行执法行动；
三年多来， SEC 共对超过2700名公司高管（包括上市公司CEO 和CFO 在内）进行惩罚；
三年多来， 共超过70名被告（包括公司(44)和个人(29)，因为违规，在接受SEC 处罚的同时，公开向SEC 低头认错；要求违规者认错，而不是简单的和解赔偿，是怀特女士担任SEC 主席 的监管创举之一；在会计师行业，第一家被SEC 要求承认错误的是BDO;
她大力推行前任所设立的举报人奖励制度SEC’s whistleblower program， 就在她离职公告发布的当天， SEC 也公告了最新的一笔举报人奖金高达2000万美元；从2012年第一笔奖金开始，此项奖金的累计金额已经高达1.3亿美元；
在监管执法行动中， 推行 'Broken Window" ( 破窗理论）， 对既打老虎又抓苍蝇；
引入包括大数据在内的高科技，提高监管效率；
她坚持SEC 必须保持真正的独立性(truely independent)，SEC 的独立性，是投资者保护的关键所在.....
在中概股监管领域，引入注目事件包括：处罚“四大”中国成员所，给分众传媒及其时任CEO开出巨额罚单、正在进行的对阿里巴巴问讯、PCAOB 拟查阅百度和阿里的审计工作底稿......
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怀特女士无疑是一位令资本市场各方敬畏的“铁娘子”，这次她选择离职，是否意味着其所推行的监管措施将会存在变数？有意思的是，2016年11月15日，也就是在SEC 公布怀特女士离职的第二天，包括谷歌、脸书、苹果、亚马逊和中概股阿里巴巴在内的股票在开盘后全线上涨， 难道这是华尔街为怀特的离职而欢呼？
下一任SEC 主席，会是谁？是否会继续推行如此严厉的监管措施，在和中概股相关的审计跨境监管方面是否会增加合作、对正在进行的阿里巴巴会的问讯是否有影响?...... 这些问题都十分值得关注.....继民财经汇将会持续关注这些问题。
以下为SEC 公告全文：
SEC Chair Mary Jo White Announces Departure Plans
Strengthened Protections for Investors and Our Markets Through Transformative Rulemaking and Vigorous Enforcement Nov. 14, 2016 —
SEC Chair Mary Jo White, after nearly four years as the agency’s head, today announced that she intends to leave at the end of the Obama Administration. Under Chair White’s leadership, the Commission strengthened protections for investors and the markets through transformative rulemakings that addressed major issues highlighted by the financial crisis. The Commission also instituted a new approach to enforcement that has resulted in greater accountability and record actions through, among other things, the use of admissions of wrongdoing and enhanced data analytics and technology.
Chair White, who became the 31st Chair of the SEC in April 2013, will be one of the SEC’s longest serving Chairs.
“It has been a tremendous honor to work alongside the incredibly talented and dedicated SEC staff members who do so much every day to protect investors and our markets,” said Chair White. “I am very proud of our three consecutive years of record enforcement actions, dozens of fundamental reforms through our rulemakings that have strengthened investor protections and market stability, and that the job satisfaction of our phenomenal staff has climbed in each of the last three years. I also want to express my appreciation for the engagement and dedication of my fellow Commissioners and my financial regulator colleagues, past and present.”
In addition to completing the vast majority of the agency’s mandates under the Dodd-Frank Act and all of its mandates under the JOBS Act, Chair White’s leadership has advanced the agency’s mission through other critical rulemakings and built robust and effective frameworks for the SEC’s regulatory regimes going forward.
“My duty has been to ensure that the Commission implemented strong investor and market protections, and to establish an enduring foundation for future progress in the most critical areas - asset management regulation, equity market structure and disclosure effectiveness,” said Chair White. “Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the SEC’s staff, we have accomplished both.”
Chair White drove many important rules and other policy measures to completion. Under her leadership, the Commission advanced more than 50 significant rulemaking initiatives, including:
Fundamental reforms to the money market fund industry and unprecedented new disclosures and protections for mutual fund investors in a major initiative to strengthen regulation of the $67 trillion asset management industry
Enhanced equity market structure oversight, including wide-ranging new controls on how key market participants handle technology and systems issues
A comprehensive framework for enhancing the effectiveness of corporate disclosure for investors
Extensive new safeguards for the financial system and for investors in the more than $7 trillion security-based swap market
New ways for smaller companies to raise capital needed to grow their businesses
New post-crisis restrictions on proprietary trading and investments by broker-dealers and other financial institutions through the Volcker rule
Major enhancements to transparency and risk management for asset-backed securities, which were a significant contributor to the financial crisis
Strong operating standards for the clearing agencies that stand at the center of our financial system
Extensive reforms to the regulation of credit rating agencies and how they address conflicts of interest that can harm investors
First-ever regulatory framework for municipal advisors who are critical to the capital raising activities of thousands of local governments
Modernized rules of practice for conducting administrative proceedings, including providing expanded rights of discovery
To enhance accountability of those who violate the securities laws, Chair White implemented the Commission’s first-ever policy to require admissions of wrongdoing in certain cases where heightened accountability and acceptance of responsibility is appropriate. Thus far, the Commission has required admissions from more than 70 defendants, including 44 entities and 29 individuals.
During Chair White’s tenure, the Commission brought more than 2,850 enforcement actions, more than any other three-year period in the Commission’s history, and obtained judgments and orders totaling more than $13.4 billion in monetary sanctions. The Commission charged over 3,300 companies and over 2,700 individuals, including CEOs, CFOs, and other senior corporate officers.
The record number of enforcement actions over the last three fiscal years against companies and senior executives involved many “first of their kind” cases in asset management, market structure and public finance. Other major cases involved insider and abusive trading, violations of anti-corruption rules and misconduct in accounting and financial reporting. In the last year alone, the Commission brought a record 868 enforcement actions. And for the first time, the Commission devoted significant resources and emphasis on using cutting edge data analytics to uncover and investigate misconduct resulting in numerous enforcement actions involving insider trading, asset management and complex financial instruments.
As a result of the successful whistleblower program, the Commission has awarded more than $100 million, since inception — virtually all during Chair White’s tenure — to whistleblowers who provided key original information that led to successful enforcement actions.
Under Chair White’s leadership, the Commission made significant enhancements to its examination program, including increasing staff by about 20 percent by hiring new examiners where funding permitted and redeploying staff from other program areas to heighten focus on the fast-growing investment management industry.
The exam program also increased its use of advanced quantitative techniques to enable examiners to detect misconduct by more quickly analyzing large amounts of data. Over the past year, the examination program conducted more than 2,400 formal examinations of registrants, an increase over each of the prior seven fiscal years. The Commission also enhanced technology in its examination program through the National Exam Analytics Tool (NEAT), which enables examiners to analyze large volumes of trading data much more efficiently.
Chair White serves as a member of the Financial Stability Oversight Council and on several other domestic and international organizations, including the International Organization of Securities Commissions, the Financial Stability Board, the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation Monitoring Board, the Financial and Banking Information Infrastructure Committee, and the Federal Housing Finance Oversight Board.
Chair White added, “It has been and will always be critical for this agency and the public that the SEC remain truly independent. That independence is crucial to our ability to protect investors, safeguard our markets and facilitate the capital formation that fosters innovation and the growth that is essential to our national economy.”
Prior to her arrival at the Commission, Chair White spent decades as a federal prosecutor and securities lawyer. As the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1993 to 2002, she prosecuted cases involving complex securities and financial institution frauds, other white collar crime and international terrorists. She also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and was Chief Appellate Attorney of that office’s Criminal Division. She served as Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York as well as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney. In private practice, she was a litigation partner and chair of the litigation department of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, overseeing more than 200 lawyers. Chair White is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American College of Trial Lawyers.