BCG calls for stronger SEC (or: McKinsey's worst nightmare)

Oh my, how the tables have turned. While McKinsey & Company, arguably the world's most prestigious consultancy, begins to survey the immeasurable damage dealt to it by its one-time managing director/soon-to-be convicted felon Rajat Gupta, the Boston Consulting Group—one of McKinsey's toughest direct competitors—plans to publish a government-funded report urging the SEC to strengthen its ranks.  The SEC, of course, has just named Gupta as a co-conspirator in the largest insider trading case in recent history. Current McKinsey execs will be thrilled to learn that  their noble, lilywhite counterparts at BCG think that just one insider trading case is not nearly enough. No, they say, the SEC needs at least 400 more hired guns to keep an eye on—or even bring down—those corrupt dogs at McKinsey and other havens of immorality!

Bloomberg obtained a draft copy of the report, which will be officially delivered to the SEC and Congress by March 14.

McKinsey, or "The Firm" as it's often been referred to of late, won't be pleased to hear that its chief rival is advising the most obvious threat to its global dominion since Enron's disastrous collapse in 2001. Just how did it come to pass? BCG's review of the SEC's staffing policy was mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, which became law in 2010 with the belief that the Act would curb abuses in the financial sector by tightening regulations and bolstering watchdog efforts. The latter is where BCG comes in.

Hans-Paul Bürkner enjoys a hearty laugh at McKinsey's expense.

BCG's report suggested that the SEC is badly hurting for both money and bodies. Without stronger financial backing from the federal government, the firm warns that "the agency will be unable to complete the requirements of Dodd-Frank while maintaining its current activities." BCG consultants call for the addition of approximately 400 full-time employees to spearhead a revitalization effort. The SEC, the consultants say, currently lacks "sufficient human resources" and thereby often fails to follow-up on "potentially high-impact activities" like Gupta's well-documented indiscretions.

No word on whether or not BCG pointed to any particular "high-impact activities" of note that the SEC might have investigated recently.

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