SEC Investigating 50 Credit-Default Swaps, 150 Hedge Funds

The Securities and Exchange Commission is currently investigating 50 cases of credit-default swaps and 150 hedge funds, Chairman Mary Schapiro told the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. The investigations are in line with objectives of the Obama Administration to overhaul financial regulations.

The SEC is also probing more than two dozen municipal securities for potential “fraud, public corruption and price transparency,” Schapiro said.

She said confidence in the markets was critical in order for the economy to, once again, attract capital and, subsequently, deliver strong returns—and that confidence can only be restored through more stringent regulations and oversight of systemic risk: “The SEC must play a central role in restoring confidence in the markets for a simple reason: Until investors believe that they are not powerless pawns in the financial markets, until they believe in the basic integrity of financial markets, they will put their money in mattresses rather mutual funds — in bread boxes rather than bonds. And, that only serves to further undermine our economy,” the SEC chairman said.