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The SEC
The Securities And Exchange Commission (the "SEC") is an agency of the United States federal government that holds responsibility for enforcing the federal securities laws and regulating the professionals and firms in the securities and investment advisory industry.

In Their Own Words - The SEC describes their purpose as follows:

" The laws and rules that govern the securities industry in the United States derive from a simple and straightforward concept: all investors, whether large institutions or private individuals, should have access to certain basic facts about an investment prior to buying it, and so long as they hold it.  To achieve this, the SEC requires public companies to disclose meaningful financial and other information to the public.  This provides a common pool of knowledge for all investors to use to judge for themselves whether to buy, sell, or hold a particular security. Only through the steady flow of timely, comprehensive, and accurate information can people make sound investment decisions. "

The Division of Enforcement is charged with the responsibility to ensure that this purpose is achieved.  Ms. Linda Chatman Thomsen is the Director of the Division of Enforcement.  Before joining the staff of the Commission, Thomsen was in private practice at the law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell in Washington, D.C., and New York, and also served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Maryland.  In November 2004, Linda Thomsen was identified by writers and editors of the Wall Street Journal as one of fifty “Women to Watch.”  She received her A.B. from Smith College and her law degree from Harvard University.

The Commissioners of the SEC are: