A uniform fiduciary rule by the Securities and ExchangeCommission will not be released before the end of the Obamaadministration, but the agency will watch the unfolding of theDepartment of Labor's fiduciary rule to see if a conflict develops,SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo White told Senate lawmakers.

During the hearing held by the Senate Banking Committee onoversight of the SEC, White also said that the House AppropriationsCommittee's recent SEC budget approval, which was morethan $200 million less than Obama requested for FY2017, willimperil the progress the agency has made and its ability to fulfillits mission.

When asked by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) if a fiduciary rulewould get done before the end of the Obama administration, Whiteresponded, “I'm committed to moving it [a fiduciary rule] as fastand as well as I can, but I can't give you that commitment; it's alonger route than that.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also took White to task over theSEC's disclosure effectiveness initiative, which Warren said hasmoved the agency in the opposite direction of protectinginvestors.

“Instead of moving forward on issues intended to help investors,you've actually headed in the opposite direction. Since your firstyear in office, you've dedicated significant time and resources toa project you invented and called the 'disclosure effectivenessinitiative.'”

“Your big idea is that companies may be disclosing too muchinformation, causing investors to suffer from something you callinformation overload,” Warren continued. “I'm all for eliminatingredundant disclosures, but I have not heard of the concept ofinformation overload in the context of investing in stocks.I've never heard of the idea that investors want less informationthan they're getting.”

The purpose of disclosure effectiveness was a response to acongressional mandate, White responded, under the JOBS Act.

“For decades at the SEC, we've been undergoing disclosureeffectiveness review,” White said.

“What evidence do you have of investor overload?” Warrenasked.

“The SEC review is meant to make disclosure more meaningful toinvestors. We've also gotten comments about not objecting toremoving things that are repetitive,” White shot back.

Tester then probed White on whether the SEC would enforce theDOL's fiduciary rule.

“We do not enforce the DOL rule,” White responded. “[The] DOLwill enforce the rule for advisers and brokers.”

Tester noted that oversight of advisers and brokers has been theSEC's turf and asked, “How is this [DOL oversight] going towork?”

White responded that the SEC and DOL are independent agencies[with] independent rules.

“We've had rules before that overlap. We will watch this [DOLrule] and if issues arise we will coordinate [with DOL] if aconflict develops,” White said.

The SEC's recently released regulatory agenda peggedApril 2017 as the date when the agency would issue a fiduciary ruleproposal. White noted that while she's committed to getting afiduciary rulemaking done, “I've made clear how long a road that[rulemaking process] is under Section 913 [of Dodd-Frank]. And I'mone vote.”

White also noted that despite the fact that the SEC has beenfunctioning with three commissioners, instead of the full five, forthe last six months, it remains very focused on getting the workdone.

While the Senate Banking Committee approved by voice vote on May20 the two new SEC commissioner nominees, Lisa Fairfax and HesterPeirce, the full Senate has yet to confirm them.

The jury seems to be out as to when – or if – the Senate willtake up their nominations, said David Tittsworth, counsel withRopes & Gray and former head of the Investment AdviserAssociation. Grave concerns have been expressed by some Democrats,including Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, about the SEC's failureto require disclosures from public companies about campaigncontributions, Tittsworth added.

Indeed, Schumer told White during the Tuesday hearing howdisappointed he was that she has not put such a rulemaking on theagency's agenda.

“That issue alone may jeopardize consideration of the nominees,”Tittsworth said.

As to funding, White told the lawmakers that the SEC is“significantly under-resourced for our responsibilities,” notingthat the agency's financial woes could be remedied byself-funding.

She noted her plea for increased funds has been mainly in thecontext to cover adviser exams as well as how the agency is “sooutspent on the IT side by those we regulate.”

White also noted during her time as SEC chairwoman, the SEC hasenhanced its oversight of FINRA and will continue to do so.

She added that Robert Cook, named by FINRA's board onMonday as the self-regulatory organization's new president/CEO,along with current CEO Richard Ketchum, are tremendous publicservants that are very committed to investor protection.

Meanwhile. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) told White to investigatewhether illegal activities by municipal advisers added to PuertoRico's plight. The Supreme Court on Monday rejectedPuerto Rico's bid to let its public utilities restructure bondsover the objection of creditors, leaving the island's $70billion debt crisis squarely in the hands ofCongress.

Menendez sent a letter to White the same day statingthat Puerto Ricans “deserve to know whether illegal activitycontributed to the current [$71 billion] debtburden. Therefore, the residents of Puerto Rico and itsmunicipal entities merit the full attention of the Securities andExchange Commission to investigate any possible misconduct byfinancial advisers to municipal entities in Puerto Rico in theyears leading to the current crisis.”