PERSONALITY: The SEC's Top Cop

Businessmen charge he is too zealous. Ralph Nader calls him "a public servant who takes his public trust seriously." His own associates merely marvel that one man can do so much; a colleague says he routinely puts in 17-hour days, "going 90 m.p.h. all the way." Stanley Sporkin, 44, sees his task more simply: to throw a spotlight on wrongdoers. He heads the enforcement division of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which brings charges against companies for violations of securities laws and thus polices 9,000 public companies, 3,500 brokerage houses, 3,700 investment advisers and 1,300 investment companies. Though the...

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