Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Jo White yesterday criticized attempts to encroach on the agency's independence, saying recent moves by Congress and the courts inappropriately circumvent the SEC's expertise and judgment, the Wall Street Journal reported today. In a dig at judges who have questioned the SEC's rules and its historic practice of allowing firms to settle cases without admitting wrongdoing, White suggested the courts were acting beyond the scope of their roles and should instead "defer to the agency's reasoned judgments. We recognize that, under the law, a court can review a settlement," she said. "But a court that reviews a settlement that a law enforcement agency like ours enters with a defendant has a more limited task."
