FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
Contact: Nick Jacobs, 202-618-6430 or njacobs@bettermarkets.com

Washington, D.C. – Recognizing the changing regulatory landscape, Better Markets is today launching a new blog to offer insights and perspectives on how these changes will impact both investors and markets.

The new blog (hosted at https://bettermarkets.org/spotlight-series-investors-and-markets) will be called “Spotlight Series: Investors and Markets” and will offer our views on the need for the protection of investors who fuel the American economy with their hard-earned savings.  We will also highlight various aspects of our capital markets that badly need immediate and comprehensive fixes.  As these are primarily federal regulatory matters, we will focus on the actions of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Regulatory Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB), and other self-regulatory organizations such as the stock exchanges.  We will also shed light on how the industry, their trade groups, academics and others impact policymaking.

“Americans trust public servants in Washington to make prudent decisions that are in the public interest.  Often these decisions are opaque, little understood and at times even contrary to the mission of their own organizations.  By launching this blog, Better Markets will explain how federal regulatory activities affect long-term and retail investors, and whether or not our capital markets, as they currently operate, serve the needs of these investors,”  said Dennis Kelleher, president and CEO of Better Markets.

“The SEC in particular is the primary agency charged with regulating and policing the U.S. capital markets.  It is also the front line agency that is supposed to promote and protect the interests of Main Street.  They are the cop on the Wall Street beat. The SEC is, therefore, vitally important to investors, taxpayers, the financial system, our economy and, indeed, all Americans,” continued Mr. Kelleher.

“In these pages, we will highlight the good work of federal regulators, explain the difficult and complex decisions they make, and call them out when these decisions are tepid or dangerous.  We will also offer forceful and constructive criticism when we recognize that certain market practices and practitioners are engaging in socially irresponsible conduct, and we will put the spotlight on regulators who aren’t sufficiently bold in punishing and curbing such behavior.  Long-term investors and ordinary savers provide the necessary capital for the American economy to prosper.  Their interests ought to be paramount in the chambers of the policymakers in Washington,” said Lev Bagramian, Senior Securities Policy Advisor of Better Markets.

The blog can be accessed here: https://bettermarkets.org/spotlight-series-investors-and-markets

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Better Markets is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization founded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets works with allies – including many in finance – to promote pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements and more. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.com.