- Dubai Debt Delay Rattles Stock, Bond Markets
- Fannie Mae to Tighten Lending Standards: Report
- China Overcapacity Worsening, EU Chamber Warns
- Investing in Good Karma – and Making a Profit
- Black Friday to Avoid Red Ink; Greenback Gets the Blues
- Wal-Mart Price Pressure Hurts China Workers: Report
- Bankruptcies Jump, Hitting Highest Level in Four Years
- Steepest Black Friday Discounts, Revealed
- Where Do Pardoned Turkeys Go?
- 4 Thanksgiving Week Buys For Your Portfolio: Market Pros
- There's a 'Great Chance' For a Double-Dip Recession: Strategist
- Revenge of the Gangsta Nerds
- Will TCU See The "Flutie Effect?"
- Retail Earnings and Sales to Improve in Q4: Analyst
- Consumers Catching the Holiday Spirit
- It's Beginning To Look A Lot More Riskless
- Crescenzi: Claims Level Suggests End to Job Losses
- Hedge Funds Take Early Lead in Warren Buffett's 'Big Bet'
MOST SHARED
- The Executive Job Search
- Chinese Overcapacity is Worsening, EU Chamber Warns
- US Mint to Suspend American Eagle Gold 1-Ounce Coins
- Judge Erases Couple's $525,000 Mortgage Payment
- Salvation Army's Kettles Now Credit Card-Ready
- Topless Business Is Taking Off
- Wal-Mart Price Pressure Hurts China Workers: Report
- Black Friday: Bargain or Bust?
- The 'Real' Jobless Rate: 17.5% Of Workers Are Unemployed
Text Size 
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox said he has ordered the creation of a new office that will work full-time to return funds to investors harmed by stock fraud.
Congress authorized the SEC in 2002 to distribute fines and court-ordered restitution to victims of securities fraud and other corporate wrongdoing, but delays in distributing such funds have left many investors uncompensated, Cox testified Wednesday to a Senate appropriations subcommittee.
Cox said the SEC will move "very soon" to distribute about $3.4 billion owed to investors victimized by mutual-fund trading scandals, largely clearing up a $3.8 billion backlog in funds owed to investors under the so-called "Fair Funds" program.
Cox told lawmakers the new SEC office will ensure that investors' money is returned as quickly as possibly, and that the SEC is working with the U.S. Treasury Department's Bureau of Public Debt so that money it collects is invested in interest-bearing accounts while awaiting distribution.
In response to questions from lawmakers, Cox said the SEC has yet to make a decision on its stance in a case pitting Enron Corp. investors against three investment banks that allegedly helped the Houston energy-trading company conceal liabilities, eventually leading to its collapse into bankruptcy in 2001. The shareholders are seeking a Supreme Court review of a lower court ruling in March that blocked their class-action lawsuit against the banks, and want the SEC to file a friend-of-the-court brief supporting their position. The SEC chief said he expects the five-member commission will consider and vote on its position in the case shortly.
Print
Email
- For nearly three decades, these on-call experts have been dishing advice on how to – and not to – cook turkey.
- Eric Schmidt pledges to create a virtual copy of the Iraq National Museum at Google’s expense.
- Bill Griffeth is taking a leave of absence from CNBC and Power Lunch for a year. Here's a message from Bill.
- More shoppers than ever plan to comparison-shop this season. Who will benefit?
- It may be the most unusual guide to business you'll read.
- How can you get out of debt and back on the road to recovery? Follow these ten steps.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes