To ensure all investors, whether large institutions or private individuals, have access to basic
facts about an investment prior to buying it, the SEC requires public companies to disclose
accurate financial and other information to the public. This provides information for all investors
to use to judge whether to buy, sell or hold a particular security. Crucial to the SEC’s
effectiveness in each of these areas is its enforcement authority. Vigorous enforcement is required.
Crime is unrelenting. Every year the SEC brings hundreds of civil enforcement actions
against individuals and companies for violation of the securities laws. Typical transgressions
include insider trading, accounting fraud and providing false or misleading information about
securities and the companies that issue them.