SEC head Mary Schapiro said the higher funding of $943 million for fiscal 2009 was helpful, but it would still require the agency to make significant cuts in its operations.
"I do not believe it would be wise for the SEC to retrench during such perilous times in our markets for investors," Schapiro said in prepared remarks for a congressional hearing to examine the SEC's actions and the financial crisis.
Schapiro said she submitted a request to the House appropriations subcommittee to use $17 million in the SEC's unspent funds.
"The use of these prior-year funds in 2009 would make a very big difference in allowing our important work of rebuilding investor confidence in the markets to continue unimpeded," Schapiro said.
The SEC has been criticized harshly for lapses in oversight, including its failure to uncover Bernard Madoff's alleged $50 billion fraud earlier.
0:00/3:50'Toothless' SEC overlooked fraud Schapiro, who took over as SEC chief late in January, has already taken steps to improve the agency's enforcement division.
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