Better Markets Inc.

Better Markets security policy team comments on SEC rule proposals, including cutting-edge investor protection issues like PFOF & HFT. Better Markets also pushes prosecutors & regulators, including the SEC, to aggressively investigate misconduct & enforce the law without favor. The SEC implements & enforces the nation’s laws that govern the securities markets to protect investors, maintain fair & efficient markets, & help businesses raise capital to grow. The SEC is responsible for writing rules to ensure that our trading markets remain stable, fair, & transparent, that investors are protected from fraud & abuse, & that companies disclose all important so-called “material” information to investors. The SEC is also responsible for enforcing securities laws & regulations. Often referred to as the “cop on the Wall Street beat,” it is supposed to police the securities markets &, like cops on Main Street, catch lawbreakers, punish them, & deter others from violating the law.

Better Markets derivatives team advocates for strong guardrails through the rulemaking process, monitors the CFTC’s enforcement program, and defends against the industry’s attacks on the CFTC’s authority. Many ingredients of life’s essentials are commodities: the gas you put in your car, the wheat in the cereal you eat for breakfast, and the inputs for plastic in children’s toys. However, long before they reach your home, those commodities are subject to lots of market forces and other variables in getting from the oil well or farm to the local store. Commodity derivatives markets were created for producers and purchasers to deal with the risks from those variables, but those markets will not function as intended if there is excessive speculation and a lack of market integrity. The Commodities Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) is the agency charged with regulating the commodities and related futures, options, and derivatives markets.

Better Markets monitors the federal courts to identify cases that affect the financial lives of American investors & the wallets of consumers. Through litigation, “friend of the court” filings, & publication of special reports, we counter industry arguments, advance the public interest, & employ legal arguments to promote the fairness, transparency, & stability of the U.S. financial system. The issues we tackle include how courts interpret financial laws & regulations, which enforcement tools agencies will have at their disposal, & whether ripped off investors can seek relief from the courts or must bring their claims in biased & secretive arbitration proceedings. We also address the fundamental threshold question of “standing” under the Constitution: Does the investor, consumer, or public interest plaintiff have a sufficient “injury” to allow a fed court to hear & resolve the claim? That critical question—too often answered “no”—determines whether those seeking relief will be heard.

Better Markets consumer protection team fights to ensure financial consumers are protected by analyzing & commenting on CFPB rule proposals—usually to counter opposition from the industry—pushing for enforcement. Widespread abuse & exploitation of consumers causes massive harm & contributes to economic injustice, as predators often target under-privileged communities. Financial fraud contributed to financial instability & 2008 crash. As millions of fraudulent mortgages & other investment products provided the fuel for a near-total economic meltdown. While there were many consumer protection laws on the books, they were largely unenforced, neglected, or ignored by regulatory agencies, particularly the Fed, but also the OCC & others. The Dodd-Frank Act created the CFPB to correct those failures & ensure that protecting consumers from unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices was the only priority for a federal agency, returning more than $12 billion to more than 27 million Americans.

The intersection of climate change and finance has taken on a higher profile over the last few years, and it will be a focal point for regulators and public interest advocates for years to come. As a key component of the Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) movement, climate-related advocacy in the financial regulatory space needs to be increased, coordinated, comprehensive, and integrated to have a real impact. Better Markets’ Climate Initiative brings this comprehensive, coordinated, and integrated approach to finance, to elevate ESG as a priority across all the agencies and all the markets they regulate.

The financial system and the financial industry have played a major role in creating, embedding, perpetuating, and sustaining the structural financial and economic inequalities faced by poor, underprivileged, unrepresented, and disenfranchised communities. Unaddressed, these financial, economic, political, and power imbalances will persist and intensify, increasing inequality and reducing living standards as well as threatening the economic security, opportunity, and prosperity of all other
Americans. Better Markets’ Racial Inequality Initiative fights for economic and financial systems that serve society and benefit all Americans—not just the wealthy, connected and powerful.