Hello:
Will the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) be getting smaller soon?
The SEC was established by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The SEC enforces
regulations that outlaw abusive practices in the securities industry. The
current commissioner of the SEC is Californian Chris Cox.
Investment Banks are regulated by the SEC. But hold on.....aren't the Investment
Banks, such as Merrill Lynch, being purchased or merged with the Commercial
Banks, such as Bank of America? That means that the Investment Banks would
now be regulated by the Federal Reserve System (The Fed) which is governed
by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) now chaired by Benjamin Bernanke.
Do investment banks want to be governed by the Fed instead of the SEC? Today,
two of the last remaining national investment banks, Goldman Sachs and Morgan
Stanley, requested to be re-categorized as commercial bank holding companies
and therefore be governed by the Fed.
Does this mean less stringent securities regulation for the large investment
banks? Not sure, but Chris, remember to turn off the lights when you leave
the SEC.
Glad to see stability in the firm with which you do
business? Times like these are yet another reason why we chose to set up our
practice independently. We like staying out of the headlines and continuing
with business as usual. Please feel free to contact us with any questions.
Terri
G. Millson, CIMA, CIMC
President |
Ray
Dicius, CSA, GEPC
LPL Branch Manager |
09/22/2008