SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission)

The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) was established in 1934 in the wake of the 1929 stock market crash to restore investor confidence. Its mission: protect investors, maintain fair and orderly markets, and facilitate capital formation. It requires public companies to file regular financial reports (10-K annual, 10-Q quarterly) and enforces laws against insider trading, fraud, and market manipulation.

For investors, the SEC's EDGAR database is a gold mine. It contains every filing a public company must make — earnings reports, proxy statements, insider trading disclosures (Form 4), and institutional holdings reports (13F). All of this data is free and publicly accessible.

Example: In 2003, the SEC settled with 10 major investment banks for $1.4 billion after finding they had published biased research to win investment banking business. This settlement transformed how Wall Street research was produced and disclosed.

SEC filings are the primary data source for BMInsider's Smart Money Tracker — every 13F filing analyzed on the platform is sourced directly from EDGAR, ensuring accuracy and timeliness.