Will We See More Partisan Splits from the SEC?
- by Theresa Hickman
The SEC's lawsuit against Goldman Sachs has made recent headlines.
The fact that the SEC seems to be growing more litigious by making examples out of invididuals and companies is not the topic of my blog.
The most interesting thing about this case is that the 5 SEC commissioners did not vote unanimously to bring the lawsuit. The commissioners had a 3-2 partisan split. Ms. Shapiro (a registered independent) voted with the 2 Democrats. Split votes rarely happen by the SEC, especially when they are enforcing actions against firms they regulate.
I wonder if we will be seeing more of these partisan split votes when it comes to other decisions, say IFRS adoption? I know both the Democrats and Republicans have stated that they support a unified accounting standard. However, will the Republicans want to push back simply because there is a Democrat in office? (Seems childish to me, but I never understood politics).
I think Ms. Shapiro will most definitely want a unanimous consensus related to the IFRS topic.
There is already talk that we will be seeing more SEC split votes in the future. For example, there will most likely be a split vote regarding Obama's proposed financial-regulatory overhaul.
I don't see why IFRS would be exempt.
I really hope it doesn't happen because the last thing we need is more road blocks on our IFRS road trip.
