Highlights of Commission Initiatives
August 3, 2001 - Present

Division of Corporation Finance

• Acceleration of Periodic Report Filing Dates -  Proposed acceleration of the filing of quarterly and annual reports. (April 12, 2002)
   
• Disclosure of Certain Management Transactions -  Proposed amendments responding to investors' need for timely disclosure on EDGAR of transactions and other arrangements relating to executive officers and directors. (April 12, 2002)
   
• Critical Accounting Policies -  Proposed amendments to enhance investors' understanding of the application of companies' critical accounting policies. (May 10, 2002)
   
• Additional Form 8-K Disclosure Requirements and Acceleration of Filing Date -  Proposed amendments to require current reports on Form 8-K of 11 new items or events. (June 17, 2002)
   
• Certification of Disclosure in Companies' Quarterly and Annual Reports -  Proposed rules to require certification of a company's reports by the principal executive officer and principal financial officer. (June 17, 2002)
   
• Commission Order Requiring Officers of the 947 Largest SEC-Registered Publicly Traded Companies To Certify the Accuracy and Completeness of Their Filings (June 27, 2002)
   
• Screening of Annual Reports of Fortune 500 Companies
   
• Mandated EDGAR Filing for Foreign Issuers -  Adopted rule amendments to require foreign private issuers and foreign governments to file their securities documents electronically through the EDGAR system. (May 8, 2002)
   
• Disclosure of Equity Compensation Plan Information -  Adopted rule amendments designed to enhance disclosure about equity compensation plans. (December 21, 2001)

Office of the Chief Accountant

• Public Accountability Board -  Proposed framework for enhancing the quality of financial information through improvement of oversight of the auditing process. (June 20, 2002)

Division of Market Regulation

• Commodities Futures Modernization Act (CFMA) Rulemakings -  Conducted extensive rulemaking, much of it jointly with the CFTC, to permit for the first time trading in security futures products.
   
• Analyst Conflicts of Interest -  Approved NASD and NYSE rules that address potential conflicts of interest by research analysts. Launched a thorough examination of analyst conflicts of interest.
   
• Rating Agencies -  Launched a thorough examination of the role of rating agencies in the U.S. securities markets.
   
• Significant Progress on Options Market Linkage -  Approved an amendment to the Linkage Plan filed by the options exchanges that, among other things, requires the intermarket linkage to be fully implemented no later than April 30, 2003. (May 29, 2002)

Division of Investment Management

• Private Investment Funds Investigation -  Launched a formal fact-finding investigation to provide the Commission with a better understanding of the issues currently affecting private investment funds. (May 29, 2002)
   
• Mutual Fund Advertising Proposal -  Proposed amendments to modernize the mutual fund advertising rules. (May 14, 2002)

Office Of Investor Education and Assistance

• Fake "Scam" Website Initiative -  Launched three fake "scam" websites that warn investors about Internet fraud before they lose their money. http://www.mcwhortle.com (January 30, 2002)
   
• Roundtables and Investor Summit -  Held three Roundtables on Accounting and Auditing: New York (March 4, 2002), Washington, DC (March 6) and Chicago (April 4), and held the first-ever Investor Summit (May 10, 2002).

Overall Agency Highlights

• Response to the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks -  Took various emergency actions in response to the events of September 11th. Working with other U.S. financial regulators - the Fed, the OCC, and the New York State Banking Department - on a project to strengthen the operational resilience of the financial sector.
   
• Patriot Act Rulemakings -  The Commission has taken a number of steps to implement the Patriot Act, and thereby deter international money laundering and combat terrorist financing, including proposing jointly with the Department of Treasury regulations that would require broker-dealers and mutual funds to adopt reasonable procedures to verify the identities of customers and to determine whether customers appear on government lists of known or suspected terrorists.
   
• Requirements for Arthur Andersen LLP Auditing Clients -  Adopted emergency rules to minimize any potential disruptions resulting from the indictment of Arthur Andersen LLP. (March 18, 2002)
   
• Implemented Pay Parity for Commission Staff