The Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed revision to the accredited-investor rule to increase net worth $2.5 million may not screen out 88% of the current eligible market, as touted, after all. According to Thomas Kostigen of MarketWatch, the reason is quite simple: Most securities issuers don't verify eligibility. "In my 20 years of practice," Ted Cohen, an attorney with the Santa Monica, Calif.-based law firm Spolin Silverman & Cohen, told MarketWatch, "I've never seen the SEC go back and look at investor qualifications." Kostigen says he verified that fact through interviews with brokers and financial advisers. Most account applications involve merely checking off boxes in various categories of wealth and then affirming at the end that the information is true. But without asking for proof of income and net worth, almost anyone could end up investing in hedge funds, regardless of the reality. Cohen did say lying on an application is a crime that could land an unqualified investor in jail, but there is great likelihood that no one would find out anyway- especially since the issuer, who is eager for the business, may not be checking applications for accuracy. Kostigen suggests that if the SEC is really serious about weeding out unqualified investors, it should require a written accreditation examination. Otherwise, he concludes, all the agency is proving by increasing net-worth minimums is that "the rich are afforded more opportunities in the capital markets. And that may give enough reason for some people to lie to get in on the game."