American Securities Association Sues SEC Over Lack of Transparency

The American Securities Association (ASA) has sued the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its enforcement actions and failure to comply with the Freedom of Information Act. The lawsuit stems from regulatory actions by the Commission with limited information given to stakeholders. At the moment, consumers have criticized the Commission’s lack of disclosure on social media spaces.

AMA Sues The SEC

In a June 6 filing, the Securities Association seeks disclosures from the Commission on previous regulatory actions in which it imposed sanctions. According to court documents, the action is to compel compliance with the Freedom of Information Act. 

“In our democratic system, transparency is a two-way street. Federal law also demands transparency from the government. Under the Freedom of Information Act, the public is entitled to documents created by federal agencies so the people can learn about their government’s actions and policies.” 

In 2021, the SEC investigated broker-dealer retention of communications on personal devices. Scores of documents were provided to the financial regulator without suspicion of breach of rules. This led to the SEC imposing billions in penalties without explanation on the decision-making process. ASA sought answers regarding how penalties were calculated, and why defaulters were targeted. 

They noted that the regulator failed to comply with its obligations citing previous SEC Commissioners’ comments on the penalty regime as a tool to generate end-of-year statistics and not to enhance market integrity and drive investor protection.

Regulator Cites Exception

In response to ASA’s request for details under the Freedom of Information Act, the SEC pointed to Exception 7(a) to the effect that documents may reasonably interfere with ongoing enforcement proceedings. However, ASA seeks documents for settled proceedings which the Commission cannot withhold the requested information. 

“And even if the SEC could withhold documents on these grounds, it has fallen woefully short of its high burden to justify the withholding, as it has provided nothing but general, boilerplate statements for refusing to comply with ASA’s FOIA requests,” they added. 

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