When Christopher Cox took over the Securities and Exchange Commission (sec) in June 2005, George Bush praised him as "a champion of the free-enterprise system" who understood that it was "built on trust". These days unfettered capitalism is under siege and trust is in short supply-not least trust in the sec itself. As Mr Cox prepares to step down, the sec is fighting to justify its existence. It is unlikely to be unscathed by the planned regulatory overhaul under Barack Obama.rnThe sec's mission is to protect investors, maintain orderly and efficient markets and make capital formation easier. All but the most extreme libertarians would concede that government has a role to play in each, but the commission has been found wanting in the first two. Most shockingly, it failed to act on repeated allegations about Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme, a lapse that the sec's inspector-general is probing. What is the point of all the enforcement actions-a near-record 671 last year-if the whoppers slip through the net?
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