JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Bank of America Corp (BAC): The Securities and Exchange Commission Needs Funding

The SEC is dealing with increased oversight and increasingly sophisticated financial instruments. On top of that, the institutions under the SEC’s gaze are increasingly powerful. Banks like JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) and Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) can spend almost as much on litigation during a single quarter as the SEC receives in funding for an entire year. While the playing field will never be totally level, it would be nice to make it look less like a wall.

The bottom line
The SEC needs to be allowed to do its job. I can’t sit back and say that it’s done a perfect job in the past, but that’s no reason to stop it from being better in the future. Regardless of your ideology, you should want to see the SEC do its job well. It protects consumers who are at both an information and a resources disadvantage. Spending money on the good guys may not stop another Madoff, but not spending money will guarantee one.

The article The SEC Needs Funding originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Andrew Marder has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase.

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