SEC is the abbreviation of Securities and Exchange Commission. The U.S. SEC was established under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 and is the oldest securities and exchange commission in the world. Nowadays, the SEC is generally referred to as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is a government committee established by the U.S. Congress. It is an independent quasi-judicial agency directly under the U.S. federal government. The original intention of the SEC was to protect investors, maintain a fair, orderly and efficient securities market, and assist the inflow of family capital and national capital into the capital operation market. Because of its influence, Thailand, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Ghana and many other countries have likewise set up SEC departments.

When the U.S. stock market crashed in 1929, securities issued by numerous companies became worthless. Public confidence in the integrity of securities markets has plummeted as many have previously provided false or misleading information. In order to restore the economy and boost confidence in the capital market, the U.S. Congress held hearings to study solutions, and passed the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 based on the conclusions of the hearings, trying to effectively supervise the securities market in accordance with the law and protect the interests of investors. Eventually, the U.S. Congress created the SEC in 1934.

After nearly 90 years of development, the SEC is now headquartered in Washington, D.C., and is led by five commissioners appointed by the President of the United States.

According to the official website of the SEC (https://www.sec.gov/), the SEC now has six departments under its jurisdiction, namely, the Department of Corporate Finance, the Department of Examinations, the Department of Economics and Economic and Risk Analysis, Investment Management, Enforcement, Trading and Markets. Under these six departments, there are also 26 specific affairs offices, such as the acquisition office, investor education and publicity office.

According to the bill, the SEC itself can bring civil lawsuits against violators, or it can cooperate with the U.S. Department of Justice in criminal cases. In civil lawsuits, the US Securities and Exchange Commission mainly implements two major sanctions to implement the supervision of the securities market: one is to issue an injunction, and any individual or company that ignores the injunction will face a fine or imprisonment for their contempt of court judgment. The second is direct civil fines or confiscation of illegal profits. The SEC also has the right to seek the court to intervene in the position of an individual as a company executive or director, and is capable of implementing suspension or revocation of the registration of listed companies.

In addition, the SEC has established a whistleblower reward system. In September 2014, the SEC announced that it had awarded more than $30 million to an informant living overseas. This is the largest award since its establishment of the whistleblower reward system.

（Writer：Lilei）