Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
This is the homepage of the SEC. From here you can access company filings, rules and proposed rules, and the related documents of this federal regulatory agency. "The SEC was established by the United States Congress in 1934 as an independent, quasi-judicial regulatory agency during the Great Depression that followed the Crash of 1929. The main reason for the creation of the SEC was to regulate the stock market and prevent corporate abuses relating to the offering and sale of securities and corporate reporting. The SEC was given the power to license and regulate stock exchanges, the companies whose securities traded on them, and the brokers and dealers who conducted the trading. Quarterly and annual reports from public companies are crucial for investors to make sound decisions when investing in the capital markets. Unlike banking, investment in the capital markets is not guaranteed by the federal government. The potential for big gains needs to be weighed against equally likely losses. Mandatory disclosure of financial and other information about the issuer and the security itself gives private individuals as well as large institutions the same basic facts about the public companies they invest in, thereby increasing public scrutiny while reducing insider trading and fraud.
The SEC makes reports available to the public via the EDGAR system. SEC also offers publications on investment-related topics for public education. The same online system also takes tips and complaints from investors to help the SEC track down violators of the securities laws. SEC policy is to never comment on the existence or status of an ongoing investigation."*
What is the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission?
What kinds of SEC Reports are available?
What other ways can I access SEC Reports?
SEC reports can be searched with these two library databases:Mergent Online
Search a company name and choose the "Filings" tab. Reports can be viewed in Word, Excel or PDF formats.
Investigate companies to learn more about their corporate family tree structures, determine relationships among corporate entities, and generate reports and alerts for company-related information, such as new dockets, change of address, bankruptcy filings and more.
EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval) database provides access to corporate information. The system allows you to research a companys activities, registration statements, prospectuses, and periodic reports, which include financial statements.
*from the Wikipedia
Last Update: December 12, 2020
Image courtesy of scott*eric on Flickr
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Compiled
by Jim Vileta |
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