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Why is the SEC’s Division of Enforcement so important to the investing public and our mission?

For nearly 90 years, Congress has tasked the Securities and Exchange Commission with overseeing and enacting rules for our financial markets.

It’s only, though, with examination against and enforcement of our rules and laws that we can instill the trust necessary for our markets to thrive.

Preventing fraud, manipulation, and abuse lowers risk in the system. It protects investors like you and reduces the cost of capital. The whole economy benefits from that.

Think about a basketball game without referees. Teams, without fear of reprisal, start to break the rules. The game isn’t fair, and maybe after a few minutes, it isn’t that fun to watch either.

That’s where our Division of Enforcement, our cop on the beat — the referees, so to speak — comes in.

Representing around a quarter of the SEC’s talented staff, the Division investigates possible wrongdoing in our markets and, when appropriate, recommends that the Commission bring charges. The Division’s lawyers also represent the SEC in court, on behalf of the American people.

As one recent example, we charged eight Twitter influencers, alleging that they participated in a $100 million stock manipulation scheme.

The Enforcement Division helps discourage bad actors. The Commission seeks penalties and what’s called disgorgement — recovering ill-gotten gains. We often bars individuals we’ve found were in violation from taking certain roles ever again.

You have a role to play as well. Information from the public — through tips, complaints, and referrals — are an important source for our investigations. The SEC also has a robust whistleblower program. Check out sec.gov/tcr for more information.

Finance, ultimately, is about trust. Over the generations, the U.S. capital markets have become the gold standard because investors have faith in them. They’re not perfect, but they’ve stood the test of time.

Investors can take comfort in knowing that there is a cop on the beat working to protect investors and our capital markets. That builds trust across the system.