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我们有话直说：美国证券交易委员会(SEC)需要更加强硬。如果有关市场可信赖性的民意调查能让我们看出什么问题的话，那就是人们对SEC的信任接近历史最低点。许多投资者觉得市场游戏受到了非法操纵。他们感觉自己根本不是高频交易员和大经纪商的对手。甚至发行股票和债券的企业也觉得，它们的证券在市场游戏中成了被人利用的东西。
市场已经发生过许多种“闪电崩盘”。人们认为，当马多夫(Bernard L. Madoff)实施多年的庞氏骗局突然曝光以及全球曼氏金融公司(MF Global Holdings Ltd.)轰然垮台时，SEC表现得手足无措或无能为力。
10多年前，纽约检察官斯皮策(Eliot Spitzer)曾针对华尔街发起了一系列重大诉讼，并把SEC搞得精疲力尽。自那以来，批评人士一直渴望对SEC实施重大改革。
不过这方面的改革步伐一直不大。在夏皮罗(Mary Schapiro)的领导下,SEC被外界认为是一个得到了改良的机构。即将卸任的SEC执法部门主管库萨米(Robert Khuzami)对一些内幕交易案采取了行动，这让人回想起上世纪80年代以及当时轰动一时的伊凡•博斯基(Ivan Boesky)内幕交易案。那是SEC最后的黄金时代。
库萨米说，SEC目前应对电子交易方面问题的能力要比以前强得多，这类问题已经成为SEC要优先应对的事。
不过，即使是SEC最热心的支持者也必须承认，SEC在继续出错。它衡量是否赢得胜利的标准太低，它同意达成一些和解协议的做法也受到联邦法官们的批评，这些和解协议被认为损害了股东的利益，没能让一些个人为其不当行为承担责任。
有两方面的事态发展可能会让SEC重新恢复活力。
第一个是立法方面。国会议员们又重新燃起了加强SEC实施严厉处罚能力的兴趣。参议员格拉斯利(Charles Grassley)和里德(Jack Reed)已提出了一项增加SEC罚款力度的法案，该法案要求将SEC针对个人的罚款上限从15万美元大幅提高到100万美元。某些类案件中针对个人的罚款将有可能因此而提高两倍。
格拉斯利和另一名国会参议员布朗(Sherrod Brown)还问美国司法部长霍尔德(Eric Holder)，司法部为何没有起诉金融业的不当行为，包括该行业一些个人的过失。
即使无果而终，这些举动至少释放出一个信号，那就是这样一种监管过程至少在政界引起了一些不安情绪。这一过程似乎对终止程序更感兴趣，而不是追求正义。
第二个方面是，美国总统奥巴马提名前联邦检察官怀特(Mary Jo White)出任SEC主席。怀特和SEC前几任主席存在明显不同，因为前几任主席要么是总统出于政治回报而不得不提名的人选，或是做了一辈子公务员的官僚，要么就是业内人士。
即使怀特存在被媒体广泛报道的潜在利益冲突点，且她的职业生涯具有“旋转门”的特性，但证券法律界还是为怀特的提名感到兴奋。
曾经在华尔街担任检察官、现在转为私人执业律师的迈斯纳(Stuart Meissner)说，让一名检察官而非官僚来掌舵SEC，律师们都深受鼓舞。
奥谢(Sean O'Shea)曾是一名联邦检察官，专门起诉证券欺诈犯罪，现在已经转为私人执业。他说外界对怀特存在利益冲突的疑问被夸大了。奥谢说，她提出的指控将会非常激进，并将主要关注投资者信心问题。
在怀特担任纽约州南区联邦检察官期间任职SEC的海姆(Robert Heim)说，她非常了解这一行业，并且同这一行业的关系密切。但对怀特的任命明确表明，执法工作将成为SEC的工作重心。
海姆说，怀特向市场释放了一个强硬信号。无论她的职业给她带来何种冲突，她的角色都要求她成功驾驭这种冲突。
无论怀特能否平息这些争议，还是她最终成为华尔街的又一只替罪羊，亦或是SEC通过上述提出的法案加强监管力度，投资者都应该受到鼓舞。
在金融危机过后有关各方曾错失一次良机，华盛顿方面似乎认识到，应该要做的事情还有很多，且这不仅仅只是在损害股东利益的同时提高和解金的数量。
SEC正处在一个关键节点。该机构可以继续在进展缓慢和屡遭挫折之间摇摆，或者它可以营造一种氛围，个人和机构在其中都要为自己的行为负责。
想要取得成功，SEC必须表明法律和秩序并不会对自由市场构成挑战，而是保障了市场的自由。
What Can Help Restore Investor Trust? Maybe the SEC
Let's cut to the chase: The Securities and Exchange Commission needs to get tougher.
If polls about market trustworthiness are any indication, faith in the SEC is near an all-time low. Many investors feel the game is rigged. They feel at the mercy of high-frequency traders and big brokerages. Even the issuers feel their securities are being used as pawns in a game.
There have been multiple 'flash crashes.' The SEC was dismissed as flat-footed or a pushover as Bernard L. Madoff pulled off his longtime Ponzi scheme and MF Global Holdings Ltd. collapsed.
Critics have longed for a meaningful overhaul of the SEC ever since New York prosecutor Eliot Spitzer pantsed the agency by bringing a string of blockbuster cases against Wall Street more than a decade ago.
There have been baby steps. Under Mary Schapiro, the SEC is considered an improved outfit. Robert Khuzami, who is stepping down as enforcement chief, brought insider-trading cases that hearkened back to the 1980s and Ivan Boesky. It was the commission's last golden era.
Mr. Khuzami said the SEC now has a much better handle on electronic trading, which has become a priority.
Still, even the most ardent supporters must admit that the SEC continues to stumble. Its standards for notching wins are low, and the agency has been criticized by federal judges for agreeing to settlements that hurt shareholders and fail to make individuals accountable.
Two developments have the potential to shake up the agency.
The first is legislative. There's renewed interest in strengthening the SEC's ability to bring stiff penalties. Sens. Charles Grassley (D., Iowa) and Jack Reed (D., R.I.) have introduced a bill to increase fines, which would jump from $150,000 to $1 million for individuals. The fines could be tripled in some cases.
Mr. Grassley and Sen. Sherrod Brown, (D., Ohio) also have asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder about the Justice Department's reasoning for not prosecuting misconduct in the financial industry, including the missteps of individuals.
Even if fruitless, the moves signal that there is at least some political unease with a regulatory process that seems more interested in closure than justice.
The second development is nomination of former federal prosecutor Mary Jo White as SEC chairman. The choice of Ms. White is a significant departure from a series of chairmen that have been political payoffs, lifelong bureaucrats or industry participants.
Even with her well-reported potential conflicts and the revolving-door nature of her career, the securities-law community is intrigued by the choice.
Lawyers are 'encouraged that there's a prosecutor at the helm, not a bureaucrat,' said Stuart Meissner, a former Wall Street prosecutor now in private practice.
Sean O'Shea, a former federal prosecutor specializing in securities fraud who now is in private practice, said skepticism about Ms. White's conflicts is overblown. 'Her charge is going to be pretty aggressive and be concerned with that investor confidence,' he said.
Robert Heim, who worked at the SEC during Ms. White's tenure as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said she's well-versed in the industry, and tied to it, but that her appointment was a clear message that enforcement was going to be a priority.
Ms. White sends 'a tough signal to the markets,' Mr. Heim said. Her role will require her to 'successfully navigate whatever conflicts her career presents her with.'
Whether or not Ms. White quiets the critics, turns out to be another Wall Street patsy, or the SEC gets a stronger hand through the proposed legislation, investors should be encouraged.
After a missed opportunity following the financial crisis, there seems to be recognition in Washington that more needs to be done, and it isn't just a matter of extracting more settlement dollars that hurts shareholders.
The SEC is at a pivotal point. The agency can continue to alternate between sluggish progress and setbacks. Or it can create a climate in which individuals and institutions are held accountable.
To succeed, the SEC will have to make the case that law and order isn't a challenge to free markets. It ensures them.
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