The big problem is that there is no ability to do independent fact gathering and data analysis. So you are dependent on what you either learn from the examination process or what people tell you. You learn very early in dealing with the securities industry that you have to figure out who’s reliable.
You have to be able to pick the meat from the bones, because everyone has an angle. And you have to be able to recognize the angle. So now they’re arguing in this direction. It’s surely going to be in their self-interest, but where’s the truth?
All the best arguments have a large component of truth. So, the challenge for the staff is finding the truth and separating that from just the argument.”
Bob Colby, attorney at Davis Polk, and former deputy director in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Trading and Markets, discussing the challenges of the rule-making process for the SEC.
(c) 2012 Traders Magazine and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
