On January 20, 2025 I will be stepping down as @SECGov Chair.

A thread 🧵⬇️ The SEC is a remarkable agency. The staff & the Commission are deeply mission-driven, focused on protecting investors, facilitating capital formation, & ensuring that the markets work for investors & issuers alike. The staff comprises true public servants.

It’s been an honor to serve as @SECGov Chair. Over the past 3 years, I’ve seen firsthand how the incredible staff at the SEC serve investors and issuers alike.

A thread 🧵 We’ve filed more than 2,000 enforcement actions. And @SECGov enforcement actions have resulted in orders for more than $6 billion in civil penalties and more than $6 billion in disgorgement.

A thread 🧵

Some things to keep in mind if you're considering investing in crypto assets: 1⃣ Those offering crypto asset investments/services may not be complying w/ applicable law, including federal securities laws. Investors in crypto asset securities should understand they may be deprived of key info & other important protections in connection w/ their investment.

I believe AI is the most transformative tech of our time, on par w/ the internet & mass production of cars. AI is used in finance for acct openings, compliance programs, trading algorithms, sentiment analysis, & more. It’s fueled change with robo-advisers & brokerage apps.

🧵⬇️ I think AI is going to continue significantly transforming science, technology, & commerce. It is important to focus on the challenges of AI. Given that we’re dealing with automation of human intelligence, the gravity of these challenges is real.

Today’s markets are not as fair & competitive as possible for individual investors.

To modernize our market system and make it work better for everyone, we made four proposals on key parts of our equity market system.

Please submit comments by tomorrow.
🧵⬇️ 1⃣ Best Execution

This rule would set a best execution standard & framework for broker-dealers. It would help ensure that brokers have policies & procedures in place to uphold one of their most important obligations: to seek best execution when trading securities.

Yesterday, we @SECGov proposed rule amendments and requirements on a few matters.

A thread 🧵⬇️ 1⃣ We proposed amendments to require covered firms to notify their customers of data breaches. I support this b/c, through making critical updates to a rule first adopted in 2000, this proposal would help protect the privacy of customers’ financial data.

sec.gov/news/statement…

The four equity market structure rules that we proposed @SECGov a few weeks ago are out for public comment.

Here's a bit about our proposed rules 👇 Our Best Ex Proposal

This rule would help ensure that brokers have policies & procedures in place to uphold 1 of their most important obligations: to seek best execution when trading securities, whether equities, fixed income, options, crypto security tokens or other securities.

Let's talk about a pillar of @SECGov: enforcement.

In the 2022 fiscal year that just ended on Sep 30th, we filed more than 700 actions. We obtained judgments and orders totaling $6.4 billion, including $4 billion in civil penalties.

A 🧵 We use many tools to hold violators accountable—including bars & suspensions, penalties & disgorgements, injunctions and cease-and-desist orders, undertakings, admissions, criminal referrals, & allegations or findings of fact.

When it comes to accountability, the details matter.

Tech has transformed & continues to transform our equity markets.

While this has led to good things, it also brings challenges: market segmentation, concentration, potential inefficiencies.

There isn’t a level playing field among wholesalers, dark pools, & lit exchanges. (1/7) Markets have become increasingly hidden from view. In '09, off-exchange trading accounted for 1/4 of US equity volume. Last year, that share peaked at 47%. (2/7)

Why is the SEC looking at climate risk disclosure? Simple: Because investors need it.

A thread 🧵 Investors representing trillions of dollars are looking for more consistent, comparable, & decision-useful info about the climate risk of the companies in which they invest.

https://twitter.com/GaryGensler/status/1420391385421815815

We are blessed with the largest, most sophisticated, & most innovative capital markets in the world. The US capital markets represent 38% of the globe’s capital markets. This exceeds even our impact on the world’s gross domestic product, where we hold a 24% share. Companies & investors use our capital markets more than market participants in other economies do. For example, debt capital markets account for 80% of financing for non-financial corps in the US. In the rest of the world, nearly 80% of lending to such firms comes from banks.

Let's talk about something a lot of us watched during the last 2 weeks: the Olympics.

In the Olympics, there are rules by which we measure an athlete’s performance. Athletes are evaluated based on numeric difficulty of skills & a judge’s qualitative impression of performance. The sports also change over time. Occasionally fans will say, “I want something different.”

I think that’s a good analogy for public company disclosure.

➡️ With climate risk disclosures, investors are asking regulators for more. ⬅️