SEC’s White Says Lawmakers Should Respect Agency’s Independence

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Jo White said lawmakers left the agency “no room” for independent judgment when they mandated rules related to mining safety and conflict minerals.

Those legislative directives “seem more directed at exerting societal pressure on companies to change behavior, rather than to disclose financial information that primarily informs investment decisions,” White said in remarks prepared for a speech today at Fordham Law School in New York. “I must question, as a policy matter, using the federal securities laws and the SEC’s powers of mandatory disclosure to accomplish these goals.”