GAO asked to investigate SEC enforcement division after fines plummet News
GAO asked to investigate SEC enforcement division after fines plummet

[JURIST] US senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Christopher Dodd (D-CT) have asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) [official website] to investigate the enforcement division of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website] after learning that the number of fines ordered by the SEC dropped by more than half [Bloomberg report] from fiscal year 2006 to 2007, Reed said Tuesday. The GAO issued an initial report [PDF text] on the fines plummet in November after Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) [official website] requested an investigation, and a Tuesday GAO report [PDF text; summary] found that problems named in the November report regarding the SEC's internal controls had gone largely unaddressed. The Financial Times has more.

The structure of the SEC has lately become somewhat uncertain in light of current market struggles and the US Treasury's newly proposed Blueprint for a Modernized Financial Regulatory Structure [PDF text; JURIST report], which contemplates the eventual merger of the agency with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) [official website].

THIS DAY @ LAW

Indian National Congress founded

The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded on December 28, 1885 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. In subsequent decades, the so-called Congress Party would advocate for Indian independence from the UK, which was eventually achieved in 1947. The first Prime Minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, was elected as a member of the INC. Learn more about the history and founding of the Indian National Congress.

Congress recognized Pledge of Allegiance

On December 28, 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance and encouraged its recitation in schools. The Pledge was supposedly written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day. The words “under God” were added by Congress in 1954. The revised version of the Pledge was the subject of litigation before the United States Supreme Court originally brought by Michael Newdow, a parent who unsuccessfully objected to his daughter's school district policy requiring daily recitation of the Pledge. The court ruled that Newdow had no standing.

Nepal ends monarchy, establishes republic

On December 28, 2007, the Kingdom of Nepal's interim parliament ended the country's monarchy and established the Republic of Nepal. Free elections were held on April 10 of the following year to elect a Constituent Assembly.

Learn more about the rise of democracy in Nepal.