The US Securities and Exchange Commission “failed” to carry out its oversight of Bear Stearns, the agency’s inspector-general said on Friday, in a scathing assessment of the regulator that was responsible for supervising investment banks.
It was “undisputable” that the commission’s programme to oversee investment banks “failed to carry out its mission”, David Kotz, the SEC inspector-general, said in reports released on Friday. The SEC staff became aware of “numerous, potential red flags” but “did not take actions to limit these risk factors”, he said.
