SEC chair says mistake to weaken post-crisis financial reforms

By Lisa Lambert

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The outgoing chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday that reforms made by the agency after the financial crisis are indispensable to investors and markets and should not be undone.

"Less than a decade ago, this country experienced the worst financial crisis in recent memory," Mary Jo White told a meeting of the SEC's investor advisory committee. "Financial reform was imperative."

President-elect Donald Trump and the Republicans who control both houses of Congress would like to roll back parts of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law, which was passed to prevent a repeat of the crisis.

"It is inevitable and entirely appropriate that these reforms be reviewed, incrementally improved, and made more efficient as we learn from their operation in the market. But, in my view, it would be a grave mistake to weaken, let alone dismantle, these core post‑crisis reforms," White said.

White ticked off some of the reforms that she considered central to promoting safer markets: creating comprehensive oversight of the swaps market, registering private fund advisers, changing credit-rating agencies and enhancing transparency for asset-backed securities.

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Dan Grebler)

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