Tim Scott urges accountability for SEC after hearing postponed

Lawmakers want the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) chair to be required to testify on Capitol Hill on a semi-annual basis.

That’s according to Senate Republicans, who introduced new legislation on Tuesday that would extend oversight from provisions authorized under the Dodd-Frank Act, and in-turn mandate a biannual appearance before Congress to increase “transparency and accountability.”

The legislation, titled the Empowering Main Street in America Act, was introduced just hours before an announcement that a scheduled Wednesday hearing in the Senate Banking Committee with current SEC Chair Gary Gensler was postponed.

The hearing postponement comes as Gensler appeared separately Tuesday on Capitol Hill before the House Financial Services Committee, where the Chairman received criticism from both sides of the aisle. 

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Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Tim Scott, R-SC, bashed the postponement in a statement to FOX Business, remarking, “A last-minute cancellation while still testifying before the House underscores what’s wrong with the SEC under Gensler’s leadership.”

Scott went on to condemn Gensler’s record at the Commission, declaring that Gensler’s approach during his three-year term has been harmful to businesses. 

“As SEC Chair Gensler’s aggressive regulatory agenda threatens the U.S. economy – burying businesses in paperwork, reducing access to capital, and harming American retirement savers – the Senate Banking Committee deserves the opportunity to hold him accountable for his actions,” the South Carolina senator added. 

The postponement was ultimately a decision made in consultation with Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown, D-OH, according to sources familiar with the matter. A new time and date will be determined in the near future, according to a message on the Banking Committee’s website.

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A separate source in the Senate said that the reason for the postponement was due to scheduling issues. 

Bank regulators are currently required under law to testify before Congress, in accordance with the Dodd-Frank Act that was instituted after the 2007-2008 financial crisis. The SEC is not included under those parameters, however. 

Scott and nine other Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee say they would like that to change. 

The senators say that their proposed legislation would return the SEC to “its primary focus on ensuring the engines of the U.S. capital markets system are primed to fuel the next chapter of American exceptionalism, instead of putting up new and burdensome hurdles that limit opportunity, drive new investors out of markets, and chill innovation and competition.”

The Republicans go on to say that more oversight is a necessity at the watchdog, in order for it to uphold its three-part mission of facilitating capital formation, protecting investors, and maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets. 

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That is not happening though, the legislation claims, saying the agency has created an “increasingly hostile regulator environment” for investors and businesses. 

“This is exactly why we need to pass my Empowering Main Street in America Act to mandate the SEC Chair to testify on a semi-annual basis,” Scott concluded to FOX Business.