Reuters: Regulatory News: UPDATE 1-SEC's Schapiro says not eyeing the exits

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UPDATE 1-SEC's Schapiro says not eyeing the exits Oct 23rd 2012, 19:07 Tue Oct 23, 2012 3:07pm EDT * In reflective tone, SEC chair highlights accomplishments * Schapiro says she loves her job, no departure date in mind * Says greatest disappointments: proxy access, no self-funding * Schapiro sees more ahead on money fund reforms By Sarah N. Lynch and Jonathan Spicer NEW YORK, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Mary Schapiro attempted to shoot down rumors that she's close to wrapping up her tenure as the head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, saying on Tuesday that she has not thought about her post-SEC career plans. Speculation has ramped up in recent months that Schapiro, who is closing in on a tumultuous four years as SEC chairman, will head for the exits after the Nov. 6 elections. "I love what I do. I love the agency. I haven't really thought about beyond my term, which ends in June 2014," Schapiro said at the annual Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association conference when asked if she would consider another term if President Barack Obama wins re-election. "I just show up every day trying to do the best job I can," she added. "I don't have a date in my head." Despite her assertion that she's not eyeing her next move, much of the question-and-answer session focused on Schapiro's legacy. "Investors are better off than they were four years ago," she said, adding there is now a more robust financial system and economy. Her proudest accomplishments, she said, included finalizing new rules requiring hedge funds to report more information, the creation of a whistle-blower program, and steering the agency through a difficult time in history as the agency grappled with the Bernard Madoff scandal and the financial crisis. Schapiro also highlighted a silver lining in the Knight Capital trading fiasco on Aug. 1 that nearly bankrupt the firm after a software glitch created a $440 trading loss. She argued that rules adopted in the wake of the 2010 "flash crash" - in which U.S. stock markets went haywire and rapidly plunged in minutes before recovering - made the Knight incident more predictable and contained. Schapiro said post-flash crash rules that determined which "erroneous" trades would be broken gave investors a degree of confidence when Knight experienced the glitch, which broadly disrupted stock prices and forced the firm to seek outside funding. "The rules are the rules, and you the firm that caused the error bear the costs of the error, not the markets more generally," Schapiro said. BEHIND THE SCENES Despite the fact that the SEC has not completed some of its rulemaking required by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law and held fewer public meetings this year, Schapiro assured the audience that much is still going on behind closed doors. On developing a plan to harmonize a fiduciary standard for brokers and advisers, for instance, she said the agency is still plugging along. "It may feel on the outside like there's not much progress, but there's a lot going on in the building," she said. As for her greatest disappointments? Schapiro said she was still upset the SEC failed to get self-funding from Congress and that a federal appeals court had struck down a "proxy access" rule she championed to help shareholders nominate directors to corporate boards. One thing that didn't make the cut on her disappointments list: money market funds. Schapiro had waged a public battle to win support from other commissioners for a new round of reforms for the $2.5 trillion money market fund industry. She failed to get enough support from her fellow commissioners, prompting other regulators at the Financial Stability Oversight Council to get involved. "My colleagues are people of good will," she said. "I absolutely believe they will look at the new information as it comes in with an open mind." Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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