Tim Scott Calls for SEC Accountability

Lawmakers want the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to be required to testify on Capitol Hill twice a year.

That’s according to Republican senators who introduced new legislation Tuesday that would expand oversight of the provisions authorized by the Dodd-Frank law and in turn require biannual reporting to Congress to increase “transparency and accountability.”

The legislation, called the Empowering Main Street in America Act, was introduced just hours before the Senate Banking Committee announced it would postpone a hearing scheduled for Wednesday with current SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.

The hearing’s postponement comes as Gensler appeared separately on Capitol Hill Tuesday before the House Financial Services Committee, where the chairman faced criticism from both sides.

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Tim Scott, ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, criticized the delay in a statement to FOX Business, noting: “A last-minute cancellation while testimony is still before the House underscores what is wrong with the SEC under Gensler.”

Scott then condemned Gensler’s record at the Commission, saying Gensler’s approach during his three-year tenure has been detrimental to business.

“As SEC Chairman Gensler’s aggressive regulatory agenda threatens the American economy—by burying companies in red tape, 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 decided in consultation with Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, according to people familiar with the matter. A new date and time will be determined in the near future, according to a message posted on the Banking Committee’s website.

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Another Senate source said the reason for the delay was due to scheduling issues.

Banking regulators are currently required by law to testify before Congress, under the Dodd-Frank Act enacted after the 2007-08 financial crisis. The SEC, however, is not subject to these parameters.

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

The senators say their bill would return the SEC to “its core purpose of ensuring that the engines of the U.S. financial markets system are ready to power the next chapter of American exceptionalism, rather than erecting burdensome new barriers that limit opportunity, drive new investors out of the markets, and stifle innovation and competition.”

Republicans go on to argue that increased oversight is needed within the watchdog agency so it can fulfill its triple mission of facilitating capital formation, protecting investors and maintaining fair, orderly and efficient markets.

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But that’s not the case, the legislation says, which claims the agency has created an “increasingly hostile regulatory environment” for investors and businesses.

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