SEC’s $2.15 Billion Budget Ask Includes 400 New Positions

In the SEC’s 2023 congressional budget request Chairman Gary Gensler wrote that the SEC has not grown in parallel with the booming capital markets. Gensler requested $2.149 billion for the agency in support of 5,261 positions and 4,808 full-time equivalents. According to the FY 2023 request, Gensler is seeking to close staffing and resource gaps “to address critical needs, including the wave of traditional initial public offerings (IPOs) and an unprecedented surge in non-traditional IPOs by special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs); the growing size and number of private funds, particularly private equity and venture capital funds; the significant growth in crypto-assets; the rise of financial technology and predictive data analytics; and increased regulation of security-based swaps.” For FY 2023, the SEC is seeking to increase its workforce by 400 positions, including 125 positions in the Division of Enforcement and 13 new positions for the Division of Investment Management.  Meanwhile, Bloomberg Law is reporting that the SEC is slated to receive the $2.15 billion in President Joe Biden’s fiscal 2023 budget proposal, an 11.4% increase from fiscal 2021.