Spend $1.258 Billion On The SEC This Fiscal Year? Schapiro Says, Yes

As we’ve noted, the president’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2011 requests $1.258 billion for the Securities and Exchange Commission – a 12 percent increase over the current year’s funding level. What can we expect from that? SEC Chair Mary Schapiro, testifying today before the House Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, says that, if enacted, the SEC would be able to hire an additional 374 professionals, a 10 percent increase over this year, bringing the total number of staff to just over 4,200. The request also would let the SEC continue expanding its investments in surveillance, risk analysis, and other technology, as well as in better training for SEC staff. 

Schapiro notes that, of the total request, $24 million would be contingent upon the enactment of financial reform, so that if reform is passed, the SEC would have the resources to begin implementing its enhanced authorities.
 
Specially, Schapiro says that the budget request would enable her to add 130 new professionals (including new trial attorneys) in the Enforcement Division, permitting the Division to open 75 additional inquiries, conduct 130 additional formal investigations, and file charges in 70 additional civil or administrative cases. The budget would allow the SEC to fully staff the new Office of Market Intelligence.
 
The budget request would allow the SEC to add 70 staff to its Examinations unit to “help us begin closing the gap between the number of examiners and the growing number of registered firms we oversee.” There would be 20 new professionals in the newly created Division of Risk, Strategy, and Financial Innovation, and almost 50 positions to the Divisions of Investment Management and Trading and Markets. Finally, the budget request proposes to spend an additional $12 million on information technology investments – including “the third phase of our new system for analyzing tips, complaints and referrals.”
 
It should be noted that Schapiro pointed out that the proposed increase in spending “would be fully offset by the fees we collect on transactions and registrations.” In fiscal year 2011, she estimates that the SEC will collect $1.7 billion – an increase of $220 million over this year.