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WASHINGTON – The American Securities Association (ASA) today applauded a united effort from Republican members of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government (FSGG), which has jurisdiction over the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), for sending a letter raising concerns about the privacy and national security threats the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) poses.
“ASA applauds Senator Kennedy, FSGG Ranking Member Hyde-Smith, and Sens. Boozman and Moran for their leadership to protect American investor privacy and hold the SEC accountable,” said ASA CEO Chris Iacovella. “The CAT is a sitting duck that makes every American investor and retirement saver’s data privacy an easy target for hackers from China and Russia, and it’s time for the SEC to stop the collection of data this once and for all.”
“The most obvious and necessary step the SEC can take to is to eliminate the collection of all PII by the Washington Database. Collecting and storing PII serves no regulatory purpose, it’s unconstitutional, and the SEC’s ability to monitor potential risks in the equity market will not be diminished without PII,” the senators wrote in the letter.
“Collecting the sensitive personal and financial information of individuals without any suspicion of wrongdoing is a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. Forcing broker-dealers to provide this information under threat of significant penalties compounds this unlawful government surveillance,” they wrote.
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