(Washington)

Every scary dream about regulations that broker-dealers have had since Biden got elected might be coming true, at least based on new comments out of the SEC. According to Gurbir Grewal, “We must design penalties that actually deter and reduce violations, and are not seen as an acceptable cost of doing business”. Grewal is the former Attorney General of New Jersey who is now the Director of the Division of Enforcement of the SEC. He added, “[T]o achieve the intended deterrent effect, it may be appropriate to impose more significant penalties for comparable behavior over time … Doing so will make it harder for market participants to simply ‘price in’ the potential costs of a violation”.

FINSUM: All signs point to things getting much tougher over the next couple years.