SEC head: Agency will seek public input before writing new financial regulatory rules

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SEC to take public comment before adopting rules

WASHINGTON — The head of the Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday that the agency will seek input from businesses and the public before proposing new rules to oversee Wall Street and financial companies.

SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said the agency will take public comment before proposing its nearly 100 new rules under the financial regulatory law, even though the law does not require it to do so. The law gives the SEC new powers to oversee hedge funds, derivatives and other aspects of the financial industry.

“We need to have a process that does not stifle communication of important information from the public,” Schapiro said in remarks at an event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Schapiro said the agency staff will make an effort to meet with interested parties who wish to weigh in on the new rules. It will also read e-mails and comments on the agency’s website.

Lobbying by businesses and financial interests that opposed the regulatory overhaul is expected to be intense. Even though President Barack Obama last week signed the most sweeping changes for Wall Street since the Great Depression, Congress left much of the new rules to the discretion of regulators.

Schapiro said last week that the SEC will be “very sensitive” in crafting its rules. For example, she said the way the agency oversees smaller hedge funds should be different from its oversight of large entities that could pose as risk to the entire financial system.

She repeated that idea on Tuesday. At the same time, Schapiro said the SEC will follow the new law “to the letter” when writing its rules.

“The regulatory process is not designed to re-debate issues that Congress has resolved,” she said.