Rick A. Fleming is an Investor Advocate with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This post is based on Mr. Fleming’s recent remarks at the Practising Law Institute. The views expressed in this post are those of Mr. Fleming and do not necessarily reflect those of the Securities and Exchange Commission or its staff.
Today [February 24, 2018] is a special day for the Office of the Investor Advocate. I started this job four years ago today, and because I am the first Investor Advocate that is also the day the Office of the Investor Advocate came into existence. During the past four years, through the efforts of the talented and dedicated individuals who have joined my Office and work so hard to advocate for investors, we have helped to elevate the Commission’s thinking about the needs of today’s investors. And we continue to make progress in some important areas. For example, the SEC Ombudsman, Tracey McNeil, has recently launched an electronic Ombudsman Matter Management System (OMMS) to make it easier for investors to let us know of any concerns about the SEC or a self-regulatory organization. An electronic OMMS form is available at the Ombudsman’s website, www.sec.gov/ombudsman, and we encourage investors to check it out.
This morning, I would like to share some of my views on the issue of mandatory arbitration and, more specifically, on efforts to force public company shareholders to forego class action lawsuits and seek recovery individually through arbitration. This has been a matter of concern to investors recently, after commentators have suggested that U.S. IPO issuers should consider including arbitration provisions in their articles or bylaws.
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