The head of the Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday the agency has revamped itself and stepped up enforcement in the wake of the financial crisis. It is also ready to write numerous new rules for the sweeping financial legislation that is about to become law, she told House lawmakers.
SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro appeared at a House subcommittee hearing, in her first public testimony since passage of the financial overhaul legislation that gives the agency new powers. Her comments also came after the agency agreed to let Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs Group Inc. pay $550 million to settle civil fraud charges.
Lawmakers voiced approval for changes Schapiro has made at the SEC in response to the agency's failure to detect the massive Madoff fraud and other schemes. Some Republicans, however, chafed at the expanded authority the SEC will gain over hedge funds, derivatives and other areas.
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