Rule Maker Subject to Government Audit

New York Times

Times

The SEC, the federal agency responsiblefor protecting investors against fraud andmaintaining the integrity of securities, justhad their integrity questioned with arecent audit. So how did the regulator ofthe US securities markets do? Although theSEC received a clean audit opinion, theGovernment Accountability Office did citethree material weaknesses in the agency.According to a article, theSEC needs to improve how they track andreport enforcement-related penalties, preparefinancial statements, and handleinternal security issues. It appears, however,that the auditing process has broughtattention to more than just a few internalweaknesses. An agency executive told thethat the process took longer thanexpected, something many US businesseshave complained about to the SEC inrecent months.