It is generally good business practice for firms to do a daily Rule 15c3-3 calculation because, as the SEC points out, it ensures that the amount of cash that a broker-dealer locks up is consistent with the amount of cash that it receives from customers. While the SEC worries about too little cash being locked up, it is equally the case that broker-dealers benefit from being able to withdraw cash from the reserve account when their customer balances are declining.  

It seems obvious when an interest group takes a small position in an issuer in order to force a proxy vote, and then sells the shares thereafter - if they are able to reach a compromise on the proxy position - the group was not acting to improve the company for the benefit of shareholders but rather to advance their personal interests. One may agree or not with the group's policy goals, but the SEC ought not to be instituting policies that favor such interest groups at the expenses of…

Of course, the question of whether the SEC has done sufficient economic analysis in general is far broader than the rule proposal under immediate consideration.  The SEC proposal that would expand the definition of broker-dealer; the SEC ignores the very significant cost of capital for firms that would be subject to Exchange Act  ("Net capital requirements for brokers or dealers") if they were required to register as broker-dealers.

The issuance of the Committee request for information follows a recent request by as to whether Index Funds, or their advisers, were exerting undue influence over the public utilities in which they invest.  

These inquiries raise at least three distinct issues. The first is as to the advisers' positions with respect to energy usage and whether those positions are consistent with the interests of their investors. The second is the extent to which the advisers or other financial…