Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent US government agency in charge of overseeing securities exchanges, protecting investors, and facilitating capital formation.
Frequently asked questions
What role does SEC play in cybersecurity?
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) takes on several roles in financial cybersecurity. The first is education — it provides regular guidance and proposes rules to help businesses reduce their total cyber risk. The agency also offers assistance in completing cybersecurity investigations and plays an enforcement role by issuing sanctions against financial firms that fail to meet basic cybersecurity requirements.
What is SEC compliance?
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is responsible for ensuring business compliance with specific financial laws and regulations, including the Securities Act of 1933, the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Investment Advisors Act of 1940, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, and the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act of 2012. It may investigate potential violations, obtain court orders, revoke registrations, and prosecute violators in federal courts.
What are SEC requirements?
The SEC requires public companies, certain company insiders, and broker-dealers to file regular financial statements and other disclosures, such as Form 10K, which summarizes the company’s financial performance, Form 10-Q, Form 8-K, and more. It also requires companies to disclose the nature and extent of financial data breaches as soon as possible to help mitigate their impact and provide public transparency.