Commission Releases Report and Recommendations

 

 Download the executive summary (PDF, 700k)

 

 Download the full report (PDF, 2MB)

 

 

 

One year ago, the Commission set out to seriously reconsider some of the systems and institutions built over the past 70 years to protect investors and foster capital formation.

 

The Commission started with the premise that its recommendations needed to strike the right balance between two statutory mandates: protecting investors and promoting capital formation. If there is too much or too little emphasis on either mandate, the performance of America’s capital markets—and more broadly, our economy—will be undermined.

 

During a year of study and discussion, the Commission conducted four public “town halls” in Chicago, New York, Washington, DC, and San Francisco at which it received the views of many commentators, including academics, institutional investors, former regulators, venture capitalists, investment bankers, labor leaders, exchange officials, and entrepreneurs.

 

The Commission also met formally and informally with current and former regulators and executive branch and Congressional officials. The Commission received a broad range of informal views and thoughtful concerns.

 

The Commission has agreed on recommendations to further the competitiveness of U.S. capital markets, the development of capital sources for business expansion and job creation, and the protection of the investors whose savings contribute so importantly to capital formation.

 

Our most fundamental recommendation is that policy-makers and thought-leaders address these problems now before a crisis arises. We have it within our power to take sensible, effective steps to ensure that U.S. markets are the most fair, efficient, transparent, and attractive in the world. The question is, can we find the political will to take them.