WASHINGTON, D.C.— Benjamin Schiffrin, Director of Securities Policy for Better Markets, issued the following statement in connection with Better Markets’ new Fact Sheet, “The SEC is Now the Shareholder Exploitation Commission”:

“At the 2024 Republic National Convention, now-Vice President JD Vance said that his party was done ‘catering to Wall Street’ and would instead ‘commit to the working man.’ At least as far as financial regulation is concerned, this seemed unlikely once Paul Atkins was nominated to be chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Yet the extent to which the SEC has prioritized the interests of Wall Street over ordinary Americans is astounding.

“The SEC has spent the last year demolishing investor protection. Once known as the investor’s advocate, it is now the financial industry’s advocate. The SEC has:

• Made it harder for shareholders—the ultimate owners of a public company—to have a say in how the companies they own should be run.
• Steered investors towards opaque, illiquid, and expensive private market assets.
• Promoted the crypto industry despite its track record of scamming retail investors.
• Brought fewer enforcement actions and obtained less monetary relief than in years past.
• Started dismantling the Consolidated Audit Trail, the most important tool at the SEC’s disposal for catching crooks and preventing market manipulations.

“America’s workers utilize the stock market as retail investors, with goals such as saving for a house, paying for college, or enjoying their retirement. The SEC used to protect these retail investors. Now, the SEC should be known as something else—the Shareholder Exploitation Commission.”

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.