Skip to main content

How SEC regulates stock market?



Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is independent U.S federal agency that regulates the stock market. It was created in 1934 by Congress to help restore investor confidence after the 1929 stock market crash. The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 was created by Securities and Exchange Commission. It govern securities transaction on the secondary market relying on Securities Act of 1933 which increased transparency in financial  statements and  established  laws against fraudulent activities. In essence SEC provides transparency by ensuring accurate and consistent information about companies that allows investors to make informed and sound decisions. Without transparency stock market would be vulnerable to market speculation and creation of asset bubbles. 

Securities and Exchange Commission has five commissioners and five different divisions:

Division of corporate finance - review corporate filing requirements ensuring that investors have complete and accurate information on company's financial health that will help them make the best decision.

Division of investment management - regulates investment companies, variable insurance products and federally registered investment advisers. It also oversees The Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) that insures investment accounts in case that brokerage firm goes bankrupt.

Division of Enforcement - enforces SEC regulations by investigating and prosecuting violations of securities laws and regulations.

Division of Trading and Market - establishes and maintains standards that regulate the stock market. It oversees securities firms and exchanges as well as industry's self regulatory organizations.

Division of Economic and Risk Analysis - economic data and risk analysis to other division in order to integrate them in the core mission of SEC. This division predicts how proposed rules would affect market.

United States stock market is one of the most regulated markets in the world with high level of transparency which attracts many business to the United States. SEC's monitoring of exchanges and all organizations connected with selling of securities has a big role in creating such highly regulated market. It is fairly easy to take your company public in the U.S which helps companies grow larger at a faster rate. By conducting research in financial literacy SEC found out that average investor doesn't poses enough knowledge about the way market and economy function. That is the reason why SEC is so protective of ordinary, non-accredited investors through its regulations. It makes safe for average investor to buy stocks, bonds or mutual funds by regulating sale of those securities and providing investors with information that will help them make investing decisions.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

OTC stocks more difficult to trade and deposit

  Mina Mar Group helps micro-cap companies structure their growth. Micro-capitalized companies are those with less than $50,000,000 in equity, sometimes under $1,000,000. Restructuring involves raising money (both debt and stock), and planning how they will eventually harvest that wealth. If you’re a founder or investor, the secret to harvesting your equity is to possess assets with a developed market for their sale; up until recently, that market was the public market. Now, Over-The-Counter Securities (“OTC Securities”) don’t serve that purpose since, unless you’re a tech unicorn doing an IPO, there are essentially no ways to sell the shares you’ve invested in. OTC securities – how they were deposited five years ago. Brokerages all around the country have tightened compliance over the past five years to the point where no one may deposit share certificates into their brokerage accounts, even if they can prove that they paid for them. Consider the following demand from a secondary ...

All-cash, All-stock offer

An acquisition strategy known as an “all-cash, all-stock offer” requires the buyer to commit to purchasing all of the target company’s outstanding shares for a certain amount in cash. It is also characterized as buying all of a company’s outstanding shares from its shareholders in exchange for payment. All-cash, all-stock offers are typically taken into consideration as a strategy to complete an acquisition. This could be an excellent technique the acquiring corporation might use to make the transaction appear sweet and persuade shareholders who are on the fence to accept the sale by offering a premium above the cost at which the shares are now trading. So if it’s that case, if indeed the company was purchased at a premium, then shareholders of the target company could experience an increase in the value of their shares. Even when we talk about cash deals, a stock value for the target firm is discussed, and that value may be considerably higher than its current market price. Therefore,...

Company Disclosures

When we speak about disclosures and what they represent in financial terms, that actually refers to providing the public with all relevant information about a company on time.  So relevant information includes facts, figures, dates, procedures, innovation, etc, which means any information regarding a company that can probably impact an investor’s decision. As a result, it is necessary to comprehend that public company directors and officers are in charge of company disclosures and securing investors with complete and valid information. Access to material info enables investors to make information-based investment decisions, which is vital for efficient market pricing and on which state and federal securities are based.  Anytime new stocks are issued to the public, the SEC requisite disclosures of relevant financial and business info to possible investors, with exemptions provided for private placements and small issues. Integrated disclosure structure is the name give...