Rulemaking and more at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is about to grind to a halt. Mary Schapiro is leaving tomorrow, and Jesse Hamilton of Bloomberg worries that the remaining even split of two Democrats and two Republicans on the commission "could drag an already sluggish agency to a standstill."

The wire service predicts that "dozens of rules could run aground" until U.S. President Barack Obama wins confirmation for a fifth commissioner after promoting one of the two Democratic commissioners, Elisse Walter, to take Schapiro's place. Invesco alum Luis Aguilar is the other Democratic commissioner, while Daniel Gallagher and Troy Paredes are the two Republicans.

Will money market mutual fund reform be an area of progress amidst gridlock? In August Schapiro gave up on her plans for further money fund reform, thanks to opposition from Aguilar, Gallagher and Paredes. That trio then requested more money fund reform research, which was released November 30. Now that Aguilar sounds more open to money fund reform, Bloomberg wonders if money fund reform "may move forward" when Schapiro's gone.

Yet even if Aguilar's vote changes to "yes" on controvertial money fund reform proposals, that would leave the post-Schapiro vote from the commissioners tied at 2-2, at least until there's a fifth commissioner.

Ira Hammerman of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), John Nester of the SEC, Tom Quaadman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness, and Barbara Roper from the Consumer Federation of America all weighed in for the story. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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