YID With LID: Financial Reform Bill Exempts SEC From Public Disclosure

YID With LID: Financial Reform Bill Exempts SEC From Public Disclosure:

Financial Reform Bill Exempts SEC From Public Disclosure

Remember when Barack Obama promised us that transparency would be the touchstone of his administration? Well here is another example of how the Obama administration will not "touch that touchstone" with a ten foot pole.

According to the Security and Exchange Commission a provision in that new financial regulation bill exempts it from complying with almost all Freedom of Information Act requests.

The law, signed last week by President Obama, exempts the SEC from disclosing records or information derived from "surveillance, risk assessments, or other regulatory and oversight activities." Given that the SEC is a regulatory body, the provision covers almost every action by the agency, lawyers say. Congress and federal agencies can request information, but the public cannot.