Sen. Charles Grassley is getting impatient with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Iowa Republican wants the agency to respond to his request for information about what steps it's taking to address the issues raised in a recent inspector general report about the personal securities transactions of three SEC enforcement officials.
The report, dated March 3, details a two-year investigation of two SEC enforcement staff attorneys who may have traded on nonpublic information or engaged in insider trading in stocks of companies under investigation by the agency.
The pair, along with another SEC attorney, are accused of violating agency rules governing the reporting of personal stock transactions, according to the inspector general's report. There appeared to be a lack of concern about the appearance of the conduct in question, the inspector general says.
Indeed the three had a "standing lunch" on Mondays where they often discussed stocks and financial markets, according to the report. It said one made more than 200 trades over two years.
Grassley is particularly miffed because he's twice asked for information that the SEC has apparently released in response to requests made from the media through the Freedom of Information Act. And that information was more substantive than the information he received.
In a letter to SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro, Grassley asks her to "please explain why the SEC's responses to media requests pursuant to FOIA should be more complete and informative than responses to Members of Congress." - Donna Block
Continue reading below
