28th ICCML Lecture

The United States SEC

On 11 December 2019 the Institute for Corporate and Capital Markets Law (ICCML) invited to an evening lecture on the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Prof. Dr. Thilo Kuntz, LL.M., in his function as Executive Director of the Institute, welcomed Professor Arthur Laby. Professor Laby is teaching at Rutgers Law School and serves there as Co-Director of the Rutgers Center for Corporate Law and Governance. The Institute was proud to present such a recognized expert in securities and investment law, who worked as Assistant General Counsel for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC – dreaded as “900 pound gorilla” or doubted as “paper tiger” – shapes the U.S. capital markets in a unique way. Professor Laby introduced the listeners to the instutional framework of the SEC as well as the interesting relationships between government and the work of the agency. Then the different subjects and strategies of regulation were covered. To satisfy the international context of the talk, Professor Laby gave insights into his work in the Office of International Affairs at the SEC. Participants discovered the approach of the SEC to foreign private issuers and the collaboration with foreign agencies. Professor Laby concluded with remarks on the enforcement of the SEC and how the extraterritorial enforcement is established legally.

Practitioners, researchers, students and alumni attended the lecture with pleasure. By allowing a lot of questions, Professor Laby was able to develop a stimulating conversation with the audience. Although he noticeably suffered from the short amount of time available to cover such a big topic, participants learned a lot from his vast experience in the field.