The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is the agency tasked with overseeing and punishing misconduct on the financial markets. Last fiscal year they undertook 807 enforcement actions, yielding $4.2 billion in penalties — both record highs. But Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) believes more can still be done.

The 2013 unanimous Supreme Court decision Gabelli v. SEC ruled that the five-year statute of limitations for when the SEC can bring an enforcement action against a company or individual begins when the alleged violation was first committed, not when it was first discovered. What this means is that the window for the SEC can often be dramatically shortened, perhaps even eliminated if there was a discrepancy of more than five years between a violation and its discovery.

Reed’s bill S. 1960 would double the statute of limitations to 10 years. He argues that it’s a necessary mechanism for ensuring that those who commit financial crimes are held accountable.

“Financial fraud has evolved considerably over the years and now often consists of multiple parties, complex financial products, and elaborate transactions that are executed in a variety of securities markets, both domestic and foreign. As a result, the evidence of wrongdoing needed to initiate an action may go undetected for years,” Reed said in testimony on the Senate floor. “Securities law violators may simply run out the clock, now with greater ease in the aftermath of Gabelli.”

The bill has one other cosponsor, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH). It has not yet received a vote in the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee.

Because the bill has gained so little traction, GovTrack Insider was unable to locate direct statements of opposition from any sitting member of Congress. But the Republican-led Congress will likely be hesitant to enact any new rule perceived as allowing for more government crackdowns on business. This bill would give increased powers to the SEC, but last year Republicans voted to repeal most major provisions in the legislation which has expanded the SEC’s power the most this decade: Dodd-Frank.

This article was written by GovTrack Insider staff writer Jesse Rifkin.