SEC’s Dismissals of Dealer Suits Open Door to More ‘Toxic’ Loans

The Trump administration’s about-face on Wall Street enforcement, which began with a retreat from suits against crypto trading giants, has now let “toxic” lenders off the hook on a Depression-era registration requirement for securities dealers.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s sudden dismissal of several dealer lawsuits is an unprecedented move to abandon the agency’s primary mandate of enforcing securities law enacted by Congress, the SEC’s sole remaining Democratic commissioner, Caroline Crenshaw, said in a statement last month.

“It is astonishing that an agency tasked with enforcing the law has decided the law does not matter,” she said.

The SEC on ...