Agency faces $48 million gap for security, construction

Tuesday, May 24, 2005 | 9:20 a.m.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the nation's top market regulator, must close a $48 million funding shortfall after misjudging security and construction costs at its new Washington headquarters and offices in New York and Boston.

The SEC discovered the errors in March and put an employee on leave for mismanagement, said Peter Derby, a senior aide to Chairman William Donaldson. SEC officials explained the situation yesterday to staff at the House Appropriations Committee, which sets the agency's funding, and plan to brief the White House's Office of Management and Budget, Derby said.

The budget gap deals a blow to Donaldson, who in March said he was going to have to run a "tight ship" in fiscal 2006 after President Bush gave the SEC $95 million less than it requested. The agency, which sets and enforces U.S. securities rules, has $913 million to spend this year.

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