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U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Commissioner Luis Aguilar mentioned some interesting findings about the lack of confidence and trust of American investors in the overall system.

Commissioner Luis Aguilar mentioned this in his speech in Securities Enforcement Forum on October 18, 2012.

The findings are as follows:

• 79% of investors have no trust in the financial system;
• 52% of investors have no confidence in the management of public companies;
• 54% of investors have no confidence in the boards of directors of public companies;
• 64% of Americans believe that corporate misconduct was a significant factor in bringing about the current economic crisis;
• 61% of investors have no confidence in government regulators.

Commissioner Aguilar emphasized that even though steps have been taken to punish the financial and regulatory misconduct and violation but further improvements in the approach and the extent of such punishments and actions may be required. Among other things he mentioned the following:

Approach for Further Enforcement:

• Focus on individual accountability for misconduct;
• Have a maximum deterrence strategy that focuses on using available sanctions to effectively deter and punish misconduct; and
• Pay particular attention to recidivists to protect against further misconduct.

Actions:

• Higher monetary penalties which act as real deterrent.
• Permanent debarring of violators.

The complete speech can be read at: http://www.sec.gov/news/speech/2012/spch101812laa.htm