Name that company

Based in Dallas, three folks founded me in 1907 with $25,000, aiming to sell fine clothes and offer top-notch service. An old tenet of mine: “It’s never a good sale for (me) unless it’s a good buy for the customer.” I operate 35 stores bearing my name or the Bergdorf Goodman name, and a dozen clearance centers. My stores cover more than 5 million square feet. I hold a majority interest in Kate Spade accessories and Gurwitch Bristow Products cosmetics. I’m testing a small-store concept called Galleries. My Direct division publishes the Horchow and Chef’s catalogs, among many others. Who am I? (Answer: Neiman Marcus)

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The SEC fights for much-needed funding

The Securities and Exchange Commission aims “to protect investors and maintain the integrity of the securities markets.” But without adequate funding, it can’t provide adequate protection. As it stands, the SEC is far outpaced by many companies’ legal coffers.

Fortunately, the recently passed Sarbanes-Oxley Act boosts SEC funding from $438 million to $776 million. In July, President Bush also vowed to increase SEC funding.

But the White House is now urging Congress to provide the agency with just $568 million, 27 percent less than the new law authorized. Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., warned that the SEC’s “effectiveness will be seriously compromised” unless it gets more money.

It’s hard to understand why the president and Congress aren’t quickly allocating some big bucks to the SEC. In 2001, national defense discretionary spending totaled an estimated $292 billion, some 16 percent of our national budget. That’s 376 times more than the proposed $776 million for the SEC. Recently, President Bush signed an increase in military spending of more than $34 billion. Of course, our national defense is important ” but so is our financial defense.

Investors need markets and financial information we can trust. If the SEC doesn’t have the teeth it needs to enforce tougher rules and higher standards, then we’re much less likely to see real improvement in corporate behavior.