2019 Mid-Year Securities Enforcement Update

I.  Introduction: Themes and Notable Developments

A.  Continued Focus on Protection of Main Street Investors

The first half of 2019 has seen a continuation of the Commission's emphasis on protecting the interests of Main Street investors. Chairman Clayton reiterated these themes in his testimony in May before the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations. ¹ In addition to the no less than 43 references to Main Street investors, the Chairman's testimony highlighted: (1) the Retail Strategy Task Force, formed in 2017, to use data-driven strategies to generate leads for investigation of industry practices that could harm retail investors, as well as (2) the mutual fund share class initiative as an example of returning funds to retail investors through a program to incentivize self-reporting and cooperation. To be sure, the Commission brought a number of enforcement actions focusing on various