WHAT HITS YOU RIGHT AWAY IS THAT THE SEC IS THE INVESTOR'S ADVOCATE.  THE INVESTORS ARE PRIMARILY CONSIDERED BY THESE AGENCIES AS THE 1% AND INCLUDE CORPORATE EXECUTIVES AND BANKS.......THAT IS WHY WE NEVER SEE ANY MEANINGFUL PENALTIES FROM THIS AGENCY.  IT IS ONLY THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT THAT IS MEANT TO WORK ON THE PUBLIC'S BEHALF.  LOOK AT YOUR STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S WEBSITE FOR THEIR DUTIES:  PROTECTING INVESTOR AND CORPORATE INTERESTS ARE ABOVE PROTECTING THE PUBLIC INTEREST. 

THIS PRIORITY IS CREATED BY YOUR ELECTED STATE OFFICIALS.....TO CHANGE THAT PRIORITY, YOU NEED PEOPLE OVER PROFIT REAL PROGRESSIVES! 

The Investor's Advocate:
How the SEC Protects Investors, Maintains Market Integrity, and Facilitates Capital Formation    


   Laws That Govern the Industry Introduction The mission of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.

As more and more first-time investors turn to the markets to help secure their futures, pay for homes, and send children to college, our investor protection mission is more compelling than ever.

As our nation's securities exchanges mature into global for-profit competitors, there is even greater need for sound market regulation.

And the common interest of all Americans in a growing economy that produces jobs, improves our standard of living, and protects the value of our savings means that all of the SEC's actions must be taken with an eye toward promoting the capital formation that is necessary to sustain economic growth.

The world of investing is fascinating and complex, and it can be very fruitful. But unlike the banking world, where deposits are guaranteed by the federal government, stocks, bonds and other securities can lose value. There are no guarantees. That's why investing is not a spectator sport. By far the best way for investors to protect the money they put into the securities markets is to do research and ask questions.

The laws and rules that govern the securities industry in the United States derive from a simple and straightforward concept: all investors, whether large institutions or private individuals, should have access to certain basic facts about an investment prior to buying it, and so long as they hold it. To achieve this, the SEC requires public companies to disclose meaningful financial and other information to the public. This provides a common pool of knowledge for all investors to use to judge for themselves whether to buy, sell, or hold a particular security. Only through the steady flow of timely, comprehensive, and accurate information can people make sound investment decisions.

The result of this information flow is a far more active, efficient, and transparent capital market that facilitates the capital formation so important to our nation's economy. To insure that this objective is always being met, the SEC continually works with all major market participants, including especially the investors in our securities markets, to listen to their concerns and to learn from their experience.

The SEC oversees the key participants in the securities world, including securities exchanges, securities brokers and dealers, investment advisors, and mutual funds. Here the SEC is concerned primarily with promoting the disclosure of important market-related information, maintaining fair dealing, and protecting against fraud.

Crucial to the SEC's effectiveness in each of these areas is its enforcement authority. Each year the SEC brings hundreds of civil enforcement actions against individuals and companies for violation of the securities laws. Typical infractions include insider trading, accounting fraud, and providing false or misleading information about securities and the companies that issue them.

One of the major sources of information on which the SEC relies to bring enforcement action is investors themselves — another reason that educated and careful investors are so critical to the functioning of efficient markets. To help support investor education, the SEC offers the public a wealth of educational information on this Internet website, which also includes the EDGAR database of disclosure documents that public companies are required to file with the Commission.

Though it is the primary overseer and regulator of the U.S. securities markets, the SEC works closely with many other institutions, including Congress, other federal departments and agencies, the self-regulatory organizations (e.g. the stock exchanges), state securities regulators, and various private sector organizations. In particular, the Chairman of the SEC, together with the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, serves as a member of the President's Working Group on Financial Markets.

The Laws That Govern the Securities Industry ___________________________________________________________________________________





Public Comments on SEC Regulatory Initiatives Under the JOBS Act

The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act includes provisions that require the SEC to undertake various initiatives, including rulemaking and studies touching on capital formation, disclosure and registration requirements.

Members of the public interested in making their views known on these matters, even before official comment periods may be opened, are invited to submit those views via the links below.

The Commission will post all submissions on this page of the Commission's Internet Web site. All submissions received will be posted without change; we do not edit personal identifying information from submissions. You should only make submissions that you wish to make available publicly.

Members of the public who wish to submit official comments on particular rulemaking proposals should submit comments during the official comment period through the Commission's website as described in the notice of the proposal published in the Federal Register.

See also: Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act http://www.sec.gov/spotlight/jobsactcomments.shtml
06/25/2012




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Regulatory Actions
This page provides links to releases concerning SEC rulemaking activity, including concept releases, proposed rules, final rules, interpretive releases, and policy statements. It also links to announcements concerning SRO rulemaking, PCAOB rulemaking, instructions for Exchange Act Exemptive Applications, other Commission notices, and public petitions for rulemaking submitted to the SEC.

Proposed Rules Final Rules Interim Final Temporary Rules Concept Releases Interpretive Releases Policy Statements PCAOB Rulemaking Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) Rulemaking and National Market System (NMS) Plans Exchange Act Exemptive Applications Exchange Act Exemptive Orders Investment Advisers Act Notices and Orders 
Investment Company Act Notices and Orders 
Investment Company Act Deregistration Notices and Orders 
Other Commission Orders and Notices Public Petitions for Rulemaking Exchange Delistings

How to Submit Comments The SEC invites comments on Proposed Rules, Concept Releases, Self-Regulatory Organization filings, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Rulemaking, Rulemaking Petitions, and Other Releases. Less frequently, comments are invited for Final Rules, Interpretive Releases, and Policy Statements
Submit comments by one of the following four methods. To help us process and review your comments more efficiently, please use only one method.

Important: All comments will be made available to the public. Comments sent via online form or e-mail, will be posted on our website. Comments sent via paper will be converted to PDF and then posted on our website. We do not edit personal identifying information from submissions; submit only information that you wish to make available publicly.

1. Online form To locate rules open for comment, browse the various rules index pages:

Rules open for comment have a direct link to an online form that can be used to submit comments. Note that you can now submit attachments with the form — including PDF files. The link is located beneath the Title, as shown in the following image (this is a graphic; the links do not work):



You can also enter search terms for a specific rule in the box at the bottom of the Regulatory Actions page.

OR 2. E-mail
  • Send comments to rule-comments@sec.gov.
     
  • The subject line of your message must include the File Number for the rule. This is the number that begins “S7-” or “SR-”.
     
  • If you attach a document, indicate the format or software used (e.g., PDF, Word Perfect, MS Word, ASCII text, etc.) to create the attachment.
     
  • Please note that we now accept comment letters in PDF format.
     
  • DO NOT submit attachments as HTML, GIF, TIFF, PIF, ZIP, or EXE.
3. Regulations.gov Members of the public may also submit comments through www.regulations.gov, an eRulemaking Initiative. At this site you can search, view and comment on proposed federal regulations open for comment. Once you have located the proposed rule, click on the "Submit a Comment on this Regulation" link and follow the instructions to complete the online form.

OR 4. Paper Send 3 copies of your paper comment letter to:

Elizabeth M. Murphy, Secretary
Securities and Exchange Commission
100 F Street, NE
Washington, DC 20549-0609

Each copy must list the “File Number” for the rule. This is the number that begins “S7-” or “SR-”.

For more on the SEC rulemaking process and types of rules, see Rulemaking, How It Works.

  http://www.sec.gov/rules/submitcomments.htm