February 23, 2004
The proposed rule goes in the right direction of putting more clarity and more teeth in the enforcement of, and to a lesser degree education about, appropriate ethical standards to be followed. After the shocking thievery committed by what were effectively conspiracies of traded companies and traders, the American public deserves the additional protection of rules AT LEAST this strict. Trading firms will whine about the cost, but only if they pay what taxpayers will pay to recover from WorldComs malfeasance, I might be interested in hearing their ideas. If the firms just want a free ride despite all the thievery, they can go pound sand.
In summary, lets put this rule in place as is, and plan on continuing with further enforcement and education programs.