The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is a regulatory agency in the United States that plays a crucial role in overseeing and enforcing securities laws. The SEC’s mission is to protect investors, maintain fair and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation. To fulfill this mission, the SEC focuses on monitoring and investigating various types of conduct that could potentially harm investors or undermine market integrity.
These types of conduct include, but are not limited to:
- Ponzi schemes
- Pyramid schemes, or a High-Yield Investment Program
- Theft or misappropriation of funds or securities
- Manipulation of a security’s price or volume
- Insider trading Fraudulent or unregistered securities offering
- False or misleading statements about a company (including false or misleading SEC reports or financial statements)
- Abusive naked short selling
- Bribery of, or improper payments to, foreign officials
- Fraudulent conduct associated with municipal securities transactions or public pension plans
- Initial Coin Offerings and Cryptocurrencies
- Other fraudulent conduct involving securities