GAO says SEC not using all its arsenal

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is not using all of its available tools to police Wall Street, according to a U.S. government study.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that a study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office indicates that the SEC declines to use internal audits conducted by U.S. stock and options exchanges.

Also, the SEC's efforts to track questionable trading are hampered by a computer system that does not allow it to easily search investigative referrals from the exchanges, the paper says citing the GAO report, which is to be released on Monday.

The study was requested by Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, the paper says.

"They've got a computer system that can't search for the data the securities industry is reporting -- that's like working with one hand tied behind your back," Grassley is quoted as saying.

"And it was kind of shocking to know that the SEC doesn't review the exchanges' internal audits. That's inefficiency and there is no excuse for it," the senator added.

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