The SEC Wants Badly Behaved Companies to Admit They Did Wrong

You've read it a thousand times: A company settles with the US Securities and Exchange commission for tens of millions of dollars after being accused of misleading investors or insider trading or bribery or money laundering. But every time there's the same catch — they "admit no wrongdoing."

Not anymore. The SEC announced Wednesday it's breaking away from the "no admit, no deny" policies of the past, and plans to force at least some companies to declare that they broke the law if they want a settlement.