At a meeting in Qatar, they teamed up to render as toothless as possible the enforcement mechanisms for the UN Convention against Corruption.That is a pity: in theory, UNCAC could be more effective than any of the other international institutions committed to fighting sleaze.
Under Mr. Gensler, the commission had begun to shed a reputation as a toothless watchdog, bringing a record number of enforcement cases while writing new rules to police Wall Street.
The Security Council resolution on Syria was dismissed as toothless, since it did not include an enforcement mechanism.
The law aimed to stop illegal immigration by imposing sanctions on employers who might hire undocumented workers, but a proliferation of fake documents, outsourcing employment to third-party contractors, and a lack of enforcement rendered the new regulations toothless.
However, the enforcement mechanism for the mandate is fairly toothless.
REUTERS Wall Street Regulator Ramps Up Enforcement | The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, once considered a toothless regulator, brought a record number of enforcement cases over the past year, as fines soared.
Currently, participation in the GTR is voluntary, rendering the initiative toothless, but this can be readily rectified with FDA enforcement.
But the plan was immediately challenged as toothless by top Democratic lawmakers for failing to provide tough enforcement sanctions, and a list of rules with no real remedies.
And as for international policing structures: the Bush manifesto says nothing about, say, adding an enforcement mechanism, complete with tough inspections, to the toothless Biological Weapons Convention.
