SEC Funding Shift In Senate's Draft Financial Fix

MARCY GORDON

WASHINGTON (AP) — Measures that would significantly boost funding for the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as give shareholders a say on executive pay are included in draft financial overhaul legislation in the Senate, a person familiar with the matter said Monday.

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, is expected to unveil Tuesday his long-awaited proposal for bolstering the country's system of financial regulation. It differs from the Obama administration's proposal by limiting the power of the Federal Reserve and consolidating supervision of U.S. banks into a single regulator.

The person familiar with the matter spoke on condition of anonymity because the legislative proposal hasn't yet been made public.

Dodd's draft legislation includes the funding change for the SEC, a move aimed at giving the market watchdog agency more resources to prevent future disasters like its failure to detect Bernard Madoff's multibillion-dollar fraud.

Proposed by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., the new system would dedicate all the annual revenue collected by the SEC to its budget. Currently, a large portion of the fees paid by public companies and other entities that register stock with the agency go to the Treasury Department for the government's coffers.