SEC chief hints of probe into Bear Stearns downfall

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Christopher Cox, hinted strongly Thursday that the US market watchdog was probing suspicious trading linked to Bear Stearns' downfall.

Cox spoke as members of the Senate Banking Committee quizzed him over suspicious share trading in Bear Stearns' stock that occurred in early March as the troubled investment bank faced potential collapse.

"I would hope you're looking at this. This must have triggered some bells and whistles at the SEC," the panel's Democratic chairman, Christopher Dodd, said to Cox at a hearing into Bear Stearns' takeover by JPMorgan Chase.

"Your hopes I think will be met and exceeded with regard to the agency's response," Cox said.

The SEC chairman declined to...