Watch former Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler's 'Eras Tour' for the agency's 90th anniversary, a look back on the pivotal moments in the agency's history.

The Securities and Exchange Commission was created during the Great Depression to restore public trust in financial markets after the 1929 crash.

Passed in 2010 in the fallout of the Great Recession, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was the most significant financial reform since the Great Depression.

Read a breakdown of the different financial and banking regulatory bodies in the US, including the SEC.

Prior to the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the 1913 Pujo Committee determined that 180 people were managing more than $22B—a large slice of the entire nation's wealth—and recommended extensive regulations.

The Dodd-Frank Act increased banks' capital requirements and established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Known as the 'Pecora Hearings,' the widely covered trials following the stock market crash of 1929 generated massive public outrage that forced Congress to impose stricter regulations on Wall Street.

After Bernie Madoff's nearly $65B Ponzi scheme was exposed, the Securities and Exchange Commission was widely criticized for being inattentive and overly lax for not having caught the fraud earlier.

Explore EDGAR: the Securities and Exchange Commission's free, public database with information and filings from public companies.

When the New York Stock Exchange was started in 1792, traders would meet both outside on the street and in coffee shops to do business.

Watch a breakdown of 'The Volcker Rule,' which stopped banks from being able to make trades with client money and is one of the most controversial financial regulations to date.

Learn about the essential Securities and Exchange Commission filing types, including S-1, 10K, 10Q, and 8-K.

In the SEC vs. Jarkesy ruling of 2024, the Supreme Court overturned the Securities and Exchange Commission's ability to seek civil penalties for securities fraud in-house, which significantly scaled back the agency's enforcement capabilities.

Joseph Kennedy Sr., President John F. Kennedy's father, became the first chairman of the Securities Exchange Commission in 1934.

Read a profile of Ferdinand Pecora, the lawyer behind the colorful, extensive investigations into the stock market crash of 1929.

The Social Security System was created to protect Americans from economic disasters like the Great Depression

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal created new government agencies and programs in the wake of the Great Depression.

Electronic trading transformed investing, ushering in a new era for retail investors in which average Americans could research stocks online and then use early platforms like StreetSmart and E-Trade to conduct their transactions

In the early 1990s, stock brokerages knew that online trading would be a great equalizer, creating opportunities for more individuals to buy and sell stocks.

The Social Security Act was formed to protect retired workers amid the Great Depression

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal created new government agencies and programs in the wake of the Great Depression, including the Social Security Act.

The history of bankruptcy in the US dates back to the signing of the Constitution

In 1787, this founding document gave Congress the right to establish nationwide bankruptcy laws. Legislators took advantage of that power in 1800 when they passed the Bankruptcy Act of 1800, the first comprehensive bankruptcy law at the federal level.

A deep dive into Enron, one of the largest accounting scandals in history

Investing comes with great opportunities for reward, but it also carries great risk. Investors learned that the hard way when Enron collapsed. Everyone lost money—from the largest institutions on Wall Street to mom-and-pop investors who bought S&P 500 index funds. This series from American Scandal starts with a close-up into an investment manager at Enron who started to unravel the accounting scandal happening behind the scenes. Listen here.

An S-1 reveals financial and other details to the public, often for the first time, when filing for an IPO

To file for an IPO, a company must file a registration form called an S-1 or prospectus with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. S-1s detail a company's current business model, competitive landscape, and other financial information.

To avoid a total collapse of the housing market, the US government took control of the two leading mortgage companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The Glass-Steagall Act separated commercial banks in the US from investment banks

In 1933, the Glass-Steagall Act legally separated commercial banks in the US from investment banks. However, by 1999, the act was repealed—meaning that today’s investment banks are no longer required to be separate from the type of bank where you deposit your paycheck.

Key moments in fintech history include the transatlantic cable’s invention and E-Trade’s founding

Founded in 1982, E-Trade was the first-ever online brokerage, pioneering a method of investing that is common today. Its story is part of a timeline that the New York Times put together of key moments in early fintech history.

BlackRock played an integral role in the Federal Reserve's response to the Great Recession, managing about $30B of hard-to-sell Bear Stearns assets on behalf of the New York Fed.

Largely considered to be the inspiration for Gordon Gekko in the movie 'Wall Street,' Ivan Boesky was one of the most high-profile white-collar criminals and faced a $100M fine for insider trading in 1986.

The National Housing Act established the Federal Housing Administration

During the Great Depression, 1,000 homes were foreclosed on per day, and half of the mortgages across the country defaulted. To address this crisis, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Housing Act. It established the Federal Housing Administration, which is still around today and helps protect lenders and buyers.

The environmental crises of the late 1960s led to the founding of the EPA

Disasters such as the Cuyahoga River fire and the Santa Barbara oil spill prompted Congress and President Nixon to establish the Environmental Protection Agency in December 1970, with the goal of unifying federal efforts to control pollution.

A timeline of Wall Street's history

Wall Street's historical timeline starts with Wall Street getting its name in the 1600s and ends with details about the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011.

The Nasdaq was founded in 1971, marking the debut of electronic trading

The Nasdaq stock exchange arguably invented electronic trading, making it a key part of fintech history. It's often used as a benchmark for how the tech industry is performing.

Watergate led to the prosecution of nearly 50 individuals

Watergate ushered in sweeping changes. Agencies were required to release information openly; officials had to disclose finances transparently; and new laws limited conflicts of interest, established independent ethics oversight, and safeguarded presidential records—curbing abuse and boosting accountability.

A history of stock exchanges, from Venitain merchants to modern day

While the idea of stock exchanges—markets where securities can be bought and sold—is mostly synonymous with Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange, and other modern markets, places to buy and sell financial instruments have a long history....

The first US stock exchange dates back to the 1790s in Philadelphia

Only two years after that stock exchange in Philadelphia started, the largest stock exchange in the US to date was created: the New York Stock Exchange.

The story of the Wall Street Crash of 1929

The 1920s in the US "roared" with rapid economic growth after the conclusion of World War I. But in October 1929, the bubbly stock markets crashed dramatically, plunging the nation into the decadelong Great Depression.

ETFs were first created as an alternative to mutual funds, combining the diversification benefits of a mutual fund with the ability to trade throughout the day on a stock exchange.

A stock market timeline

The stock market has come a long way since the 1600s, when the first version of a stock exchange was created in Amsterdam. Mile markers along the way include everything from the Dow Jones Industrial Average's creation in 1896 to the stock market woes during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

The New Deal shifted economic and social authority to the federal government

Franklin D. Roosevelt's response to the Great Depression expanded federal power through economic regulation and social welfare programs, permanently reshaping federalism by shifting responsibility for financial security to Washington while leaving states to administer many of these programs.

In March 2008, Bear Stearns was the first major bank to collapse in the Great Recession—leading to panic across the entire global financial system.

In 2019, Congress passed the Secure Act to reform key aspects of the US tax code

Key Secure Act provisions included raising the age at which mandatory distributions take effect (to increase saving), allowing larger catch-up contributions for older individuals, and allowing employers to directly match contributions in a Roth 401(k).