Tag: executive order on agency independence

Shadow SEC argues for retention of SEC independence

At the end of last year, in this post on the CLS Blue Sky Blog, two leading authorities on securities law, Professors John C. Coffee, Jr. and Joel Seligman, made some predictions about SEC regulation under the new Administration. (See this PubCo post.) In light of their concerns about the potential changes to the SEC under the new Administration, they announced their intent to form a “Shadow SEC,” composed of acknowledged experts in securities regulation, intended to encourage debate through the presentation of “cogent and factual arguments”: “Such a shadow body—more scholarly than political—might frame issues in fuller detail and offer less drastic alternatives.” Although “[c]larity and objectivity will not always win,” they suggested, “sometimes they might. That is enough to justify the effort.”  In Shadow SEC: The Value of an Independent SEC, the Shadow SEC takes on the February 18 Executive Order, which sought to rein in the independence of “independent” federal regulatory agencies, such as the SEC, by ensuring that they all operate under the President’s authority and supervision. (See this PubCo post.) Not surprisingly, they had some concerns.