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Video Message: Chair Gary Gensler Marks 2nd Year at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

April 18, 2023

This video can be viewed at the below link.[1]

I can’t believe I’ve had the privilege to be part of the Securities and Exchange Commission for two years.

At this remarkable agency, we serve investors building for a better future and issuers raising money, while overseeing the $100 trillion capital markets that allow them to meet.

Why do our capital markets matter?

It’s because investors and companies, large and small, use them every day.

Every time you invest in a 401(k), trade through a brokerage app, or take out a mortgage or auto loan, you place your trust in our capital markets.

For nearly 90 years, our capital markets—with the benefit of securities regulation—have been the finest in the world. At the SEC, we’re working for you to keep it that way.

First, we serve as a cop on the beat, stamping out misconduct and making markets fairer.

In the last two years alone, we’ve filed 1,500 enforcement actions. That includes actions against Ponzi schemes and pump-and-dumps, insider trading and misleading disclosures, and, yes, rampant noncompliance in the crypto markets.

Second, in overseeing the markets, we engage with over 40,000 registrants—asset managers, brokers, dealers, exchanges, fund companies, public companies, raising money from you, and many more. When investors have fair access to markets—and full, fair, and truthful disclosure from those raising money—that builds trust in our financial system.

We cannot, though, simply rely on the rules of the past to face the market challenges of today. Technology and new business models are dramatically transforming our markets.

Thus, we’re working to update rules to best meet our times.

We’re seeking to make our markets more efficient and competitive. That means better returns for you and lower costs for issuers. We’ve made proposals to do so in the stock market and in the ever-growing private funds market.

Further, we’re working to strengthen market integrity and transparency. We recently adopted rules to guard against insider trading and claw back executive compensation when based on faulty financials.

We’re also striving to make our markets more resilient. Lest we forget, risk in one corner of the market can spill out and hurt regular folks. The market events of the last month are just the most recent reminder of this. So, we’re working on multiple projects—in the Treasury markets, in money market funds, and in cybersecurity—to better protect you from future financial instabilities.

I am so honored to be part of the SEC’s remarkable team. Here at the SEC, I’m proud that we have the investing and issuing public’s back.

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