Academics Form ‘Shadow SEC’ Group to Facilitate Policy Discussions on Federal Securities Laws

A new academic group named the “Shadow SEC” announced its formation this week.

The organization made up of six legal and business academics aims to provide, encourage, facilitate and distribute policy discussions related to U.S. securities laws and matters involving the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Shadow SEC group said in a statement.

“Our intention is to meet regularly and provide thoughtful commentary based on history, economics, market practices, and SEC law,” the group said in a statement.

The founding members are all university professors and include John Coates, professor of law and economics at Harvard Law School, John C. Coffee, Jr., professor of law at Columbia Law School, James Cox, professor of law at Duke University School of Law, Jill Fisch, professor of business law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Merritt Fox, professor of law at Columbia Law School, and Joel Seligman, dean emeritus and professor at Washington University School of Law

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“Our purpose is to provide advice on how best to improve securities markets and preserve and fortify the SEC, which throughout its 90-year history has demonstrated a remarkable ability to adjust – through statutory changes, rulemaking, and enforcement actions – to constantly evolving securities products and securities markets and broker-dealer, investment adviser, governance, and accounting practices,” the group wrote in the statement.

The organization said it plans to announce one or two more members this month; and seeks to include others in “seeking the wisest possible federal securities laws and policies.”

They also backed President-elect Donal Trump’s nomination of Paul Atkins to chair the SEC. If approved by the Senate, he is expected to have a less aggressive regulatory regime than his recent predecessors and is also notable for his push to advance cryptocurrency guidelines and use in the markets.

“As an initial statement, we congratulate Paul Atkins on his nomination to be the next SEC chair. Paul earlier served as an SEC commissioner and has worked at the SEC during both Democratic and Republican administrations,” the group wrote. “We recognize that he has the requisite experience, knowledge, and intelligence for the position. We reserve the right to disagree with policies that he may propose.”