Are Recusals Slowing Down SEC Decision-Making?

More indicators surfaced that critics may have had a point when they warned that Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White might be hampered in leading the agency because of her past Wall Street legal work.

The New York Times business section on Friday gave details on the independent regulator’s on-again, off-again resolution of an accounting fraud case against large federal contractor Computer Sciences Corp.

Key questions of the amount of the settlement, whether the corporation admits wrongdoing, and which officers would be charged have divided the commission evenly along Republican and Democratic lines, the Times noted. Recused from participating in deliberations on the case by the nominally five-member commission is former prosecutor White, whose husband John has represented CSC as a partner in the law firm of Cravath, Swaine and Moore. “Because Cravath’s involvement neutralized Ms. White, it has arguably opened the door for the company to obtain a smaller penalty,” wrote reporters Ben Protess and Peter Eavis.

White has recused herself in four dozen commission actions, they reported. Though the SEC declined comment, the commissioners generally deny that ideology or their party dictates their decisions on punishing corporate misdeeds.