Commissioner Stein's suggestion that the SEC should attempt to find out what disclosures investors really want makes sense. Both the SEC and Congress should embrace it. Recent "social" disclosure requirements (e.g., conflict minerals, compensation ratios, and diversity and contributions to come) are political rather than financial in nature.

Commissioner Stein is correct that the best way to find out what investors want is to ask them. Accordingly, it would make sense to…

Firms should be aware that much of this reporting can be difficult to complete correctly, particularly when it concerns the aggregation of positions held by accounts under common control.

Is studying the interaction between the emotions and the intellect a good use of FINRA's resources? It is hard to see how the findings in this study would be actionable by the regulator. They do, however, appear to be especially useful to those who want to commit fraud.

If implemented, the FRB's proposal would require yet another set of contractual revisions. It's a wonder that anyone has enough time to negotiate new trades, given the number of hours required to amend existing contracts under rules that have been adopted by various regulators to date.