Washington (Feb. 4, 2004) -- As part of President Bush’s $2.4 trillion, fiscal 2005 budget, a 9 percent increase has been earmarked for the Securities and Exchange Commission, bringing its requested coffers up to $893 million.
The regulator would actually have a total budget of $913 million due to $20 million being carried over from fiscal 2004 that it did not spend. That funding was to hire attorneys and accountants.
The SEC budget also includes $18.7 million to add some 100-plus positions -- 44 of which are slated for the regulator’s Investment Management Division, which tackles the caseload of the mutual fund scandals.
In addition to the SEC, the budget also earmarks $83 million toward a new proposed agency that would oversee mortgage funding concerns Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae -- a 25-percent increase over the fiscal 2004 budget for the current overseer of both, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.
The administration budget for fiscal 2005 begins Oct. 1.
-- WebCPA staff
