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 1934 and the Securities Act 1933.
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. It also manages the information portal of the 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– Jan 20, 2025)
- TBD
Fines Collected by Year
The SEC reports its collections usually around November every year for each preceding fiscal year. The fiscal year in the USA is counted from July 1 of a certain year (say 2024) to June 30 of the next year (i.e., 2025).
The SEC penalties are collected by the Department of Enforcement and are received under two heads: penalties and disgorgement.
- Penalties refer to the fines levied on anyone when they breach a security law.
- Disgorgement is the seizure of profits that are obtained by violating security laws.
Below are the fines collected by the SEC in the last few years:
- FY 2018-19
- Total:
- Penalties:
- Disgorgement:
- FY 2019-20
- Total:
- Penalties:
- Disgorgement:
- FY 2021-22
- Total:
- Penalties:
- Disgorgement:
- FY 2022-23
- Total:
- Penalties:
- Disgorgement:
- FY 2023-24
- Total:
- Penalties:
- Disgorgement:
