House Panel Votes to Extend SEC Authority
A House panel Thursday approved a bill expanding the emergency authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission to take action designed to smooth trading in troubled stock markets.
The voice vote by the House Financial Services Committee sent to the full House the bipartisan measure proposed by its chairman, Rep. Michael G. Oxley (R-Ohio).
Last month, the SEC suspended its usual restrictions on companies buying back stock to help shore up the market, following a four-day shutdown of trading after the Sept. 11 attacks in the heart of New York’s financial district.
The bill would allow the SEC to extend such emergency orders for as long as 30 business days, and in some cases for as long as 90 calendar days, rather than the current 10 business days. SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt has said a surge of company stock buybacks helped bolster a shaken market.
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