SEC chairman says more reforms needed

SEC chairman says more reforms needed:

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK -- The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday his agency wants to see further reforms at the New York Stock Exchange and plans to step up regulation of the mutual funds business and the corporate proxy process.

William Donaldson, speaking to hundreds of members of Financial Executives International at a New York conference, identified those areas as the SEC's primary targets of scrutiny.

Donaldson praised the work done at the NYSE by its interim chairman John Reed, noting the exchange's release of a report two weeks ago spelling out its plans for self-reform. Reed took the helm of the exchange earlier this fall after it was rocked by outrage over former chairman Dick Grasso's lavish pay package.

But Donaldson said the Reed plan - which includes trimming the NYSE's current board of directors, limits its function and creates a new group to set executive pay - is just a start.

'I believe his (Reed's) efforts represent an important first step, but only a first step,' Donaldson said.