TheCorporateCounsel.net

I have to admit, after having spent almost three decades now either regulating or advising on the preparation of issuer disclosure, I sometimes wonder, is it really serving any purpose? For example, it always troubles me that when I receive a prospectus or proxy statement in the mail, I never actually have time to review it, because I am too busy helping issuers with their prospectuses and proxy statements! Well, my self-doubt was assuaged last week in a speech by Chair Gensler before the 11th Annual Conference on Financial Market Regulation, where he extolled, among other things, the benefits of issuer disclosure on the financial markets. After describing the Commission’s efforts toward making issuer disclosure easily accessible to the public through the EDGAR system, Chair Gensler concluded:

Adam Smith’s nearly 250-year-old notion—that the whole economy benefits when the price of information is lowered, or information is free—is as relevant today as it has ever been. The SEC, as mandated by Congress, has an important role to promote data as a public good.

I’m proud to work with all of my colleagues at the SEC, including those of you from DERA, to ensure for the public good of data.

With Chair Gensler’s encouragement, I can now go about my day promoting data as a public good!

– Dave Lynn