Washington, D.C. July 16, 2010 — The Securities and Exchange Commission's division that reviews public company filings is creating three specialized offices to enhance its disclosure review and policy operations.
The new offices in the Division of Corporation Finance will focus on large financial institutions, asset-backed securities and other structured products, and securities offering trends.
"These changes will help us focus our resources more sharply on critically important institutions and financial products so we can stay ahead of the curve and better protect investors," said Meredith Cross, Director of the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance.
The three new offices are:
Since late 2008, the Division has been conducting continuous real-time reviews of the periodic reports filed by some of the largest bank holding companies and other large financial institutions. Through its new financial services review office, the Division will be able to increase the number of institutions subject to these reviews, concentrate staff expertise, and develop new review techniques to further strengthen its review program. The new office also will facilitate sharing information about the firms it reviews with others throughout the agency involved in regulatory oversight of these firms.
This new office will review disclosures in asset-backed securities and other structured finance products and monitor their impact on the markets. The office will also lead rulemaking and interpretive activities related to structured products.
This new office will evaluate trends in securities offerings and capital markets to determine whether rules and regulations are keeping pace and working effectively. The office also will conduct market research and selectively review securities offering documents and coordinate the Division's consideration of new products.
# # #