Compliancex

They think they do.

According to the Huffington Post, the SEC’s Mary Schapiro and the CFTC’s Gary Gensler testified that they are massively underfunded at the Senate Banking Committee’s hearing Tuesday, convened in order to examine JPMorgan Chase’s $2 billion loss.

“Imagine if, all of a sudden, there are eight times the number of teams on the [football] field, but only seven refs,” Gensler said at the hearing. “There would be would be mayhem on the field. The fans would lose confidence.”

Similarly, Schapiro said, “We’re still way outgunned by the firms we regulate in terms of technology.”

Schapiro did not comment on recent news stories alleging that the agency owes millions in rent to their Washington D.C. landlord, or that former lead investigator David Kotz wasted taxpayer dollars and impeded critical investigations with sexual misconduct.

Companies in the private sector learn to balance their budget and make the most out of their bottom line. While consumers rely on government agencies like the SEC and CFTC to police the activities of private companies, don’t taxpayers deserve to have those agencies’ budgets exposed to a magnifying glass, before they are granted more funds? What do you think?

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Beth Connolly is Editor-in-Chief of the Wall Street Job Report and the Compliance Exchange. She blogs creatively at When Nutmeg Met Basil. Connect with her on LinkedIn , Twitter, and About.Me.