www.sechistorical.org

Galleries

The Bright Image: The SEC, 1961-1973

Special Study of Securities Markets

"For the Protection of Investors"

“The Commission is convinced that the Congress and the investing public expect our study to be as thoroughgoing as our budget of time, manpower and money will permit.”
- Undated letter from SEC Commissioner Jack M. Whitney II to Edwin Darby, The Chicago Sun-Times

In early September 1961, at the urging of Cary, Congress authorized the SEC "to make a study and investigation of the adequacy, for the protection of investors, of the rules of national securities exchanges and national securities associations."(8) Congress appropriated $750,000 to hire staff to make special studies of the over-the-counter market, small securities issues, and investment advisory services. Cary hired Milton Cohen, a former SEC staff member, along with attorneys, economists, statisticians, financial analysts, and professional and support staff to complete what would come to be known as the Special Study of Securities Markets.

Politics played a role in the creation of the Special Study group. Cohen demanded quasi-independence from control of the Commission, agreeing that the Special Study group would report its findings to the Commission, but would not require the five-member Commission itself to approve those findings. SEC supporters in Congress, among them House Speaker Sam Rayburn (D-TX), wanted the study to focus on the markets and not the SEC. Cary had to navigate opposing political viewpoints, including a fundamental disagreement over whether SEC regulation or market competition should be the animating feature of securities law.

<<Previous | Next >>

---

---

Related Museum Resources

Papers

1960s (undated)

Letter from SEC Commissioner Jack M. Whitney II to Edwin Darby, Chicago Sun-Times

[transcript] (pdf) (Government Records)

March 6, 1962

Letter from Milton H. Cohen, Director, Special Study of Securities Markets, to Broker-Dealers requesting information

[transcript] (pdf) (Government Records)

April 16, 1962

Letter from Milton H. Cohen, Director of the Special Study of Securities Markets, introducing questionnaire to firms on selection, training and supervision of salesmen

[image] (pdf) (Government Records)

August 28, 1962

Summary of Over-the-Counter Interviews by Eugene Rotberg to Milton H. Cohen, Ralph S. Saul, Richard H. Paul and Herbert G. Schick

[document] (pdf) (Courtesy of Eugene Rotberg)

April 3, 1963

SEC Release No. 22 on the Special Market Study: Chapter III, Selling Practices

[image] (pdf) (Government Records)

August 10, 1963

Letter from Carl W. Stern to Milton Cohen on the Special Study

[image] (pdf) (Government Records)

October 2, 2001

Remembrance by Arthur Rothkopf of 1963 SEC Special Study of the Securities Markets

[document] (pdf)

Photos

1963

SEC Special Study

Sidney Robbins, Ralph Saul, Milton Cohen, Richard Paul and Herbert Schick

Oral Histories

29 November 2001

Milton Cohen

With David Silver

• audio (mp3)
• edited transcript (pdf)

29 November 2001

Ralph Saul

With David Silver

• audio (mp3)
• edited transcript (pdf)

Programs

04 October 2001

Roundtable on 1963 Special Study

Moderator: Brandon Becker, Irving Pollack

Presenter(s): Robert Birnbaum, Milton Cohen, Meyer Eisenberg, Norman Poser, Eugene Rotberg, Ralph Saul, Fred Siesel, David Silver, Stanley Sporkin

• video - Part 1 (wmv)
• video - Part 2 (wmv)
• edited transcript (PDF)

Galleries

• Fair To All People - The SEC Takes Command: William Cary and the Special Study