SEC Chair Gensler Touts Data Disclosure Efforts

SEC Chair Gary Gensler asserted that financial data is a "public good," arguing that accessible and reliable data benefits the entire economy.

At the 11th Annual Conference on Financial Market Regulation, Chair Gensler highlighted SEC data disclosure and transparency efforts in four areas. 

• Issuer Disclosure. Chair Gensler emphasized the importance of preventing insider trading and ensuring that all material information was available to maintain market trust. He noted that, while the benefits of a disclosure-based regime have remained consistent over the last 90 years, the demands on what investors need for decision-making have evolved, including addressing new risks like climate and cybersecurity. He said that technological advancements have also been integrated into the SEC's processes, such as enhancements to the EDGAR system and the introduction of APIs to improve public access to financial disclosures.
• Disclosure by Market Participants. Chair Gensler argued that the public benefits from data about market participants as it enhances price discovery, reduces information asymmetries and promotes trust in the markets. He touted updates to various market participant disclosure requirements, including adopting rule amendments to streamline beneficial ownership reporting and expanding the availability of short sale data to both regulators and investors.
• Transparency of Markets. Chair Gensler underscored the importance of both pre-trade and post-trade transparency to provide clear insights into market activities and pricing. He cited to recent regulatory updates, including Dodd-Frank mandated enhancements to securities lending market transparency and requiring large broker-dealers to disclose execution quality. He noted the adoption of FINRA rules enhancing Treasury market transparency and proposals to update the National Market System to better reflect current trading realities.
• Economic Research. Chair Gensler described SEC efforts to publish unbiased economic research and data, including aggregated market data. He said that the SEC Division of Economic and Risk Analysis provides impartial economic analyses that considers the costs and benefits of SEC rules as well as their effects on efficiency, competition and capital formation. Chair Gensler also mentioned new initiatives like the Registered Fund Statistics report which aggregates data on the extensive $25 trillion registered fund industry.