The Securities and Exchange Commission is ending its push to punish financial-crisis misconduct in the same way it started—with a new chairman vowing that Wall Street’s top cop will be tougher in the future. In 2009, at the depths of the recession, Mary Schapiro took the reins at the SEC promising to “move aggressively to reinvigorate enforcement” at the agency. She created teams to target various types of alleged misconduct, including one focused on the complicated mortgage bonds that helped set off a global financial panic. The agency has filed civil charges against 138 firms and individuals for alleged misconduct just before or during the crisis, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal. And it received $2.7 billion in fines, repayment of ill-gotten gains and other penalties. But some of the SEC’s highest-profile probes of top Wall Street executives have stalled and are being dropped. More in the Wall Street Journal here.
