WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis Kelleher, President, Co-founder, and CEO for Better Markets, issued the following statement in connection with Better Markets’ new Fact Sheet, “The SEC Is Demolishing Investor Protection, Threatening Capital Formation & the U.S. Economy”:
“The U.S. has benefited from the deepest, most liquid, most efficient markets in the world, providing fuel for the U.S. economy, standard of living, and wealth creation. That’s due to investor confidence and trust, which is based on those markets being well-regulated and well-policed, principally by the SEC. That, however, is dramatically changing as Trump’s SEC moves away from its core historic mission of protecting investors and markets to protecting the financial industry and management. That is going to undermine investor confidence and trust in the U.S. markets, which is going to reduce investment, undermine financial stability, cause misallocation of capital, damage capital formation, and threaten economic growth, as detailed in the Fact Sheet.
“Under Chair Paul Atkins, the SEC has quickly and forcefully redirected itself as a champion of the industry and management by:
- reducing disclosures,
- restricting shareholder proposals,
- limiting shareholder engagement,
- weakening oversight and enforcement,
- killing and rolling back vital regulations, and
- limiting investors’ rights and remedies, including the right to go to court when they suffer losses due to illegal conduct.
“The SEC has also dramatically reduced enforcement, including an unprecedented pattern of dropping key enforcement actions and court cases against potential fraudsters. These moves greatly limit investors’ remedies for securities laws violations by killing private rights of action and class action participation, and they’re allowing the crypto industry to infect the U.S. economy unchecked. The transparency, integrity and vitality of our financial markets are under threat, and investor confidence and trust are going to suffer, possibly grievously. The bottom line is that there’s no longer a meaningful cop on the financial beat, and all Americans will suffer as a result.”
The Fact Sheet is available 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.
