October 17, 2023
International Conspiracies: The Knights Templar, the Illuminati and. . . the SEC?
Like most Americans, I have a soft spot in my head heart for conspiracy theories. Generally, the kookier they are, the more intriguing I find them to be. But I’ve got to admit that I’m having a hard time buying into one that the Chair of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. James Comer (R-KY), appears to be peddling. Check out this excerpt from a recent letter he wrote scolding SEC Chair Gary Gensler for dragging his feet in complying with Republican legislators’ demand for information about the SEC’s efforts to coordinate with EU regulators:
Senator Tim Scott and I wrote you on June 5, 2023, seeking documents and information on your agency’s involvement in the development of European social engineering initiatives disguised as disclosure and due diligence directives being developed by the European Union (EU). This Administration has hidden behind “interoperability of disclosure regimes” as its justification for global coordination. However, it is not clear that the law provides such authority and we must determine whether legislation is necessary to ensure our government works for the American taxpayer and not on behalf of foreign interests.
So, the distinguished gentleman & his Senate colleague are apparently concerned that the SEC may be conspiring with the EU to engage in a “social engineering initiative disguised as disclosure”? Well, I suppose Gary Gensler could be part of a globalist conspiracy to deprive us of our liberty, destroy our economy, make us trade in in our F-150s for electric Vespas & force us to watch soccer instead of the NFL.
On the other hand, given the US reluctance to embrace concepts like “double materiality” when it comes to financial regulation, the simpler explanation may be that the SEC’s efforts to coordinate with the EU have been motivated in part by a desire to prevent regulators there from implementing disclosure standards that the US will find unacceptable. Personally, in choosing between the two alternative explanations, I’d opt for the one that conforms with “Occam’s razor.”
– John Jenkins