The United States Securities and Exchange Commission or the US SEC is a regulatory body within the USA that is tasked with the regulation of securities markets within the country.
It was established in 1934 as per the US SEC Act.
Missions of the SEC
The SEC has been mandated to maintain three missions.
- Protect investors and prevent fraud.
- Maintain fair, orderly, and efficient securities markets.
- Foster capital formation.
Divisions of the SEC
- Corporation Finance: This branch sees the regulation of public companies and also manages the information portal of SEC called EDGAR.
- Trading and Markets: This branch oversees all the self-regulatory bodies like the FINRA, Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board
- Investment Management: This branch oversees the regulations of all registered investment managers like Mutual Funds, ETFs, and others.
- Enforcement: This is the branch that sends violation notices, files charges, and fights cases against all the suspected violators.
- Economic and Risk Analysis: This is the SEC’s think tank that provides them with policy insights, data, and analysis.
- Examinations: This branch is responsible for finding out all the violations under the SEC Act.
List of SEC Chairman
The role of the SEC Chair is to lead the agency in enforcing federal securities laws, protecting investors, maintaining fair markets, and overseeing public company disclosures.
Here is a list of all past and present Chairmen of the U.S. SEC, from the agency’s founding in 1934 to the present:
SEC Chairmen (1934 – Present)
- Joseph P. Kennedy (1934–1935)
- James M. Landis (1935–1937)
- William O. Douglas (1937–1939)
- Jerome N. Frank (1939–1941)
- Edward C. Eicher (1941–1942)
- Ganson Purcell (1942–1946)
- Robert E. Healy (1946–1947)
- Harry A. McDonald (1947–1949)
- Paul G. Porter (1949–1953)
- Ralph H. Demmler (1953–1955)
- J. Sinclair Armstrong (1955–1957)
- Edward N. Gadsby (1957–1961)
- William L. Cary (1961–1964)
- Manuel F. Cohen (1964–1969)
- Hamer H. Budge (1969–1971)
- William J. Casey (1971–1973)
- G. Bradford Cook (1973)
- Ray Garrett Jr. (1973–1975)
- Roderick M. Hills (1975–1977)
- Harold M. Williams (1977–1981)
- John S. R. Shad (1981–1987)
- David S. Ruder (1987–1989)
- Richard C. Breeden (1989–1993)
- Arthur Levitt (1993–2001)
- Harvey Pitt (2001–2003)
- William H. Donaldson (2003–2005)
- Christopher Cox (2005–2009)
- Mary Schapiro (2009–2012)
- Elisse B. Walter (2012–2013)
- Mary Jo White (2013–2017)
- Jay Clayton (2017–2020)
- Elad L. Roisman (Acting, 2020–2021)
- Allison Herren Lee (Acting, 2021)
- Gary Gensler (2021–Present)
Topics Related To The SEC
Howey Test
The Howey Test is a list of instructions given by the US Supreme Court which mentions the process to determine if a “financial asset” is a security or not.
It has four major rules for classifying something as security all of which should be satisfied to classify an asset as a security.
- The financial asset should seek investments from others.
- Investment should be in a “Common Enterprise”.
- For the generation of profits.
- The profits should arise from the efforts of people other than investors.
The US Securities and Exchanges Commission
The US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) is an authority that regulates the US Securities Markets as per the US SEC Act of 1934.
The SEC Act 1934
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission Act of 1934 established a list of rules and regulations to be followed by the US SEC to regulate securities markets within the United States of America.
Securities Act 1933
The US Securities Act of 1933 lays down the basis of investor protection. It resulted in the creation of the US SEC in 1934.
