The Securities and Exchange Commission Office of Investor Advocate released its report on the objectives of the Office for Fiscal Year 2019. The report cites the following among its principal objectives:
- Public companies and public company disclosures. The report notes that the Commission should be encouraging companies to undertake initial public offerings; however, the report expresses concerns that the Commission has focused on regulatory burden reduction and that may affect the quality of disclosures available about public companies.
- Fixed income market structure. The Office will focus on rulemaking relating to the fixed income markets that impact retail investors in municipal bonds and corporate bonds.
- Proposed Regulation Best Interest. The Office intends to focus on the proposed regulation and has been conducting investor testing. The Office also intends to run controlled experiments related to the optimal length of Form CRS and the utility of video and web-based delivery.
- Transfer agents. The Office will examine issues relating to transfer agents and transfer agent rules given that transfer agents function as gatekeepers.