Fiscal Year 2016 Agency Financial Report

Message from the Chair

The extraordinary women and men of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission work hard every day in service to investors and our capital markets. Through the staff’s tremendous work, the Commission has been able to significantly advance our mission of protecting investors, facilitating capital formation, and promoting fair, orderly, and efficient markets.

In fulfilling this mission, the Commission continued its strong track record of achievements in Fiscal Year (FY) 2016, working to protect and enhance the most robust and reliable markets in the world. The Commission carried out cutting-edge, record-setting enforcement work, reviewed the disclosures in the financial filings of thousands of public companies and registered fund promoted compliance and detected fraud through a far-reaching examination program, and proposed and adopted major reforms to protect investors and promote fairness in the markets.

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Mission and Vision

Mission: The mission of the SEC is to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.

Vision: The SEC strives to promote a securities market that is worthy of the public’s trust and characterized by:

• Transparent disclosure to investors of the risks of particular investments;
• Oversight of key market participants, including exchanges, brokers and dealers, investment advisers, and others;
• Focus on strengthening market structure and systems;
• Promotion of disclosure of market-related information;
• Protection against fraud and abuse; and
• Evaluation, development, and maintenance of appropriate rules and regulations.

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