Summary Box: Senators ask SEC official why no heads have rolled over Stanford affair

Summary Box: SEC official pressed on Stanford

SEC EMBARRASSMENT: Senators pressed a top Securities and Exchange Commission official to explain why the agency has yet to demote or fire staffers who waited years to bring charges against a big alleged Ponzi scheme.

FINDINGS IN STANFORD CASE: The SEC inspector general found that the agency knew since 1997 that R. Allen Stanford was likely operating a fraud scheme. But it didn’t charge the billionaire until February 2009.

EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE IN PROCESS: Robert Khuzami, the SEC’s enforcement director, told the senators at a hearing that the disciplinary process for agency employees in the Stanford case is under way.