The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1934. It was created by Section 4 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. It is comprised of a large independent agency of the United States federal government that was created following the stock market crash in the 1920s to protect investors and the national banking system. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market manipulation.
The SEC created has created a host of regulation which they enforce:
• The Securities Exchange Act of 1933
• The Securities Exchange Act of 1934
• The Trust-Indenture Act of 1939
• Investment Company Act of 1940
• Investment Advisers Act of 1940
• Gramm-Leach Bliley Act of 1999
• The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
• The Dodd-Frank Act of 2010
• Various other legislations
The SEC has a three-part mission:
• To protect investors
• Maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets
• Facilitate capital formation
Learn more about specific SEC structure, functions and responsibilities carried out by various divisions and offices within the Washington D.C. headquarters and regional offices around the country.
This course focuses on the purpose and structure of the SEC and its role in financial accounting and reporting compliance for publicly traded companies. We will also do a high level introduction to various important forms to file with the SEC. A deep dive into many of these forms will be completed in a separate course.
Publication Date: April 2021
Designed For
Finance professionals, Accounting professionals, Auditing Professionals, Compliance Professionals, and Board and Executive management of public companies or companies considering an IPO.
Topics Covered
- History and Structure
- Structure and Purpose
- SEC Act of 1933
- SEC Act of 1934
- IPO and Going Public
- Forms
Learning Objectives
- Describe the history and structure of the SEC
- Recognize the structure and purpose of the various SEC divisions
- Recognize the SEC Act of 1933 and 1934 and their relevance to public companies and IPO candidates
- Recognize how to examine the various forms of communication methods used to communicate with the SEC
- Differentiate between the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934
- Describe the purpose of the Glass Stegall Act
- Recognize the purpose of the Division of Corporate Finance of the SEC
- Describe what an initial public offering represent
Level
Basic
Instructional Method
Self-Study
NASBA Field of Study
Accounting (2 hours)
Program Prerequisites
None
Advance Preparation
None
Instructor
Lynn Fountain
Lynn Fountain has over 38 years of experience spanning public accounting, corporate accounting and consulting. 20 years of her experience has been working in the areas of internal and external auditing and risk management. She is a subject matter expert in multiple fields including internal audit, ethics, fraud evaluations, Sarbanes-Oxley, enterprise risk management, governance, financial management and compliance. Lynn has held two Chief Audit Executive (CAE) positions for international companies. In one of her roles as CAE, she assisted in the investigation of a multi-million-dollar fraud scheme perpetrated by a vendor that spanned 7 years and implicated 20 employees. The fraud was formally investigation by the FBI and resulted in 5 indictments estimating a $13M fraud loss.
Ms. Fountain is currently engaged in her own consulting and training practice. She is a highly sought-after trainer and international speaker. In addition, Ms. Fountain has assisted numerous companies with enterprise risk management frameworks, internal audit processes and financial accounting. She also serves as a discussion leader for the AICPA for numerous classes finance, accounting and risk management topics.
Ms. Fountain is the author of three separate technical books. Her first book released in 2015 by the Institute of Internal Auditors Foundation is entitled “Raise the Red Flag – The Internal Auditors Guide to Fraud Evaluations”. Her second book “Leading the Internal Audit Function” was released in October 2015 by Taylor & Francis Publications. This book serves as the initial launch for a series of leading practice internal audit and information technology publications. Her third book “Ethics and the Internal Auditor’s Dilemma” was released in December 2016.
Ms. Fountain obtained her BSBA from Pittsburg State University and her MBA from Washburn University in Kansas. She has her CPA, CGMA, CRMA credentials.