Free US Law Dictionary

Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (commonly known as the SEC) is a United States government agency having primary responsibility for enforcing the federal securities laws and regulating the securities industry/stock market. The SEC was created by section 4 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (now codified as 15 U.S.C. Â§ 78d and commonly referred to as the 1934 Act). In addition to the 1934 Act that created it, the SEC enforces the Securities Act of 1933, the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and other statutes.

The SEC is composed of five commissioners, no more than three can be from a single political party. Currently the SEC has only three commissioners; chairman Christopher Cox (R), Paul S. Atkins (R), and Kathleen L. Casey (R). [1] At present, the SEC does not have any Democratic commissioners.