This week, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it had settled a securities violation with New Jersey and issued a cease and desist order -- the first ever against a state. Ashby Jones at the Wall Street Journal says the SEC has more states in it sights over disclosures regarding weakened financies in the economic downturn over the last several years. Then he said the fact that the SEC didn't even name the state treasurer or any one else who helped New Jersey's bonds go to market in its order was disappointingto some people, and he singled out a comment from a former SEC accountant in a New York Times piece about the case: "There's no fine, and no accountability on the part of any individuals."
