WASHINGTON, D.C.— Benjamin Schiffrin, Director of Securities Policy for Better Markets, issued the following statement in connection with Better Markets’ new Fact Sheet, “A Republican-Only SEC Echo Chamber Without Commissioner Crenshaw Harms Investors and Markets”:

“The United States has the broadest, deepest, most liquid capital markets in the world because those markets are well-regulated and well-policed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is the world’s premier securities markets regulator. The SEC’s effectiveness has depended on robust and inclusive debate that ensures incredibly complex and cutting-edge issues are fully evaluated and unintended consequences are minimized. That’s what is being put at risk as the SEC becomes a one-party echo chamber.

“Caroline Crenshaw’s departure from the SEC means that the SEC will have no commissioners from the minority party for the foreseeable future. This is all the more problematic because during her tenure Commissioner Crenshaw proved to be a tireless advocate for investors and for policies that favored ordinary Americans over Wall Street. The SEC now lacks a commissioner who is willing to stand up to the financial industry.

“Commissioner Crenshaw has all too often been the lone voice warning that the SEC was pursuing policies that threatened investor protection and exposed investors to undue risks:

• She warned that the SEC’s determination to allow private funds to sell to retail investors will expose them to higher-risk, lower-transparency investments.
• She warned that the SEC’s attacks on the shareholder proposal process, public company disclosure, and class action lawsuits endanger sound corporate governance and shareholder democracy and trample the rights of investors.
• She warned that despite the SEC’s seemingly boundless enthusiasm for crypto it remains the case that crypto investments have a notoriously high risk of loss.
• She warned that the SEC seems intent on tokenizing securities without a reason for doing so and before the technology has been demonstrated to be fit for purpose.
• She warned that dismantling the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) will undermine the SEC’s own effectiveness by making it harder to ferret out wrongdoing.

“Now that Commissioner Crenshaw is no longer on the SEC, who will warn retail investors that the SEC—the institution that is supposed to serve as the investor’s advocate—is implementing the financial industry’s agenda and acting against their interests?”

The fact sheet is available online here.

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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.org.

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