The remarks of the SEC Commissioners reflect their personal directions. Ultimately, improving secondary market liquidity for small companies necessarily means some reduction of the regulatory requirements applicable to trading in the shares of these companies. This is not a deregulatory SEC (if you leave aside the eccentric example of the deregulation of proxy advisors). Therefore, the SEC Chair is asking a question about new technology that he says needs discussion. By contrast,…

Notably, the NASAA President's testimony appears to indicate the organization's opposition to the Lummis-Gillibrand bill (see ), or at least opposition to those portions of the proposed legislation that "preempt or restrict the authority of the state securities regulators."

In December of 2021, FSOC issued its on risks to the financial system. The report said a great deal about the risks to the financial system resulting from climate change, but very little about the risks resulting from high inflation.  

This calls to my mind a segment in the Mark Twain picaresque A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, one of my favorites when I was growing up. For those who have not read it, the story is about a modern 1890s man who travels back in…

Sometimes it seems that the U.S. financial regulators seem eager to abandon their day jobs to focus on ESG. It is doubtful that the FAF will take the Commissioners' advice and steer clear of ESG standard setting. This is too bad.

Even if the SEC chooses to adopt ESG accounting standards, any such rule making will be tied up in court on APA challenges. Assuming the standards survive legal challenge, a change in administration would mean that the rules will likely be dropped because…