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sec-on-investor-security

Posted by: admin 15 years, 3 months ago
The SEC has released an education guide for investors on how to protect themselves from fraud.

Certainly this is laudable and to be expected from a government agency, but it also points out the differences in regulations between the SEC and the agencies that make up the FFEIC (FDIC, OCC, OTS, etc). A search of the SEC site turns up only this one article about phishing. While the FFEIC has shocked the banking industry awake with its demands for better authentication and security, the SEC is back in 2001 issuing recommendations like "use your own computer".

It could be my ignorance of what the SEC mission is, oh, wait, not really:
The primary mission of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is to protect investors and maintain the integrity of the securities markets. As more and more first-time investors turn to the markets to help secure their futures, pay for homes, and send children to college, these goals are more compelling than ever.

Internet stock trading and similar technologies changed the way markets worked, helping to bring transparency and efficiency into the market. Internet fraud could stifle those efficiencies and negatively impact the integrity of the market. I'm not typically for regulation - and I think the FFEIC guidelines are pretty relaxed as far as regulation goes - but if the brokerage industry falls behind the banking industry, the phishers will just target brokerages.


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