http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/11/business/11WALL.htmlA bill that would sharply limit the power of state securities regulators to police and penalize wrongdoing by brokerage firms and their employees was approved by a subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee yesterday.
It now moves on to debate by the full committee.
The bill, the Securities Fraud Deterrence and Investor Restitution Act of 2003, was introduced in May by Richard H. Baker, Republican of Louisiana. It bars state securities regulators from creating rules for brokerage firms that differ from those established by the Securities and Exchange Commission or self-regulatory organizations like the New York Stock Exchange. If the bill had been law in 2002, for example, it would have prevented Eliot Spitzer, the New York attorney general, from pursuing the changes on Wall Street that resulted from his investigation into analyst conflicts
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The bill, which passed the subcommittee mainly along party lines, appears to be in direct response to Mr. Spitzer's aggressive Wall Street inquiry. Michael DiResto, a spokesman for Mr. Baker, said: "Congressman Baker's concern throughout was when a New York state official began to dabble in national regulatory matters, one state in the midst of their investigation, their criminal findings and their discussions of settlements, would start trying to institute new regulatory structures for financial firms that have national scope."
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This is an absolute fucking outrage of first magnitude. Mr. Spitzer's aggressive prosecution of conflict of interest is the only reason that the Dow isn't at 5,000 today. When the Hooverite Bushies did nothing, Spitzer stepoped in and used his legitimate power to restore investor confidence, by ending the wild hanky panky. And this is the reward? Dabbling, says this tremendously stupid ass, Mr. Baker? Dabbling?
I am at a loss for words. Where are the states' rights conservatives? The next move, of course, is to prohibit states from setting their own environmental standards! Dabbling, you see.
Write your fucking congresspeople BUT QUICK about this shit. One of the most disturbing pieces of legislation pout there today, mark words.