What the Future of SEC Enforcement Holds
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 25 percent in the span of just four days during the stock market crash of 1929. The ‘29 crash was the worst in U.S. history, destroyed confidence in Wall Street and precipitated the Great Depression. The crash, the resultant financial malaise and shaken public confidence prompted calls for reform, and in 1934, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was created to restore public trust in capital markets and to oversee the conduct of those markets. Prior to the formation of the SEC, controls on issuing and trading of securities were virtually nonexistent, which allowed…