Group Sues SEC Over File Destruction, Contending Agency Violated Federal Law

A public interest group—Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington—Sept. 27 sued the Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations that the agency destroyed documents relating to preliminary inquiries (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington v. SEC).

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, also names SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro as a defendant. It asserted that the commission’s alleged actions were “arbitrary, capricious, and contrary” to the Federal Records Act.

“Pursuant to SEC policy, records related to thousands of preliminary inquiries were knowingly and routinely destroyed, and the unauthorized and illegal ...