Investor governance chiefs write to US Senators calling for SEC self-funding

A group of senior institutional investment figures, including Mark Anson, the former CalPERS and Hermes chief, now president of Nuveen Investments, and Hye-Won Choi, head of corporate governance at TIAA–CREF, is writing to US senators calling for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to become self funding to protect investors. They argue that the SEC’s funding has not kept pace with the explosive growth of US securities markets over the past two decades. The letter will shortly be sent to the Senate’s Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. It is being co-ordinated by the SEC’s Investor as Owner Subcommittee, which was formed in June 2009 in the wake of the financial crisis. Its members are calling for other institutional investors to sign the letter. The letter says: “In order to safeguard investors and US capital markets, the SEC must have stable,independent self-funding that meets its needs. A self-funding mechanism would ensure that the Commission has the necessary resources to hire staff with deep knowledge of the markets and securities, develop a robust technology program, and address the regulatory imperatives resulting from rapid market changes and financial innovation.” The investors contend that the SEC is one of the few financial regulatory bodies that doesn’t have a self-funding mechanism.
Other signatories include Stephen Davis, board member of Hermes Equity Ownership Services, Abe Friedman, global head of corporate governance at BlackRock, Adam Kanzer, managing director at Domini Social Investments and Carl Rosen, executive director at the International Corporate Governance Network.