1944 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Annual Report
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
..:,~ 55~ Q:\~9th Congress, Iii! Session - - Bouse Document No. 158 f~ 1.+ :len!"- Annual Report oll~e Securities. and Exchange Commission FISCAL YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 1944 A TEN YEAR SURVEY • 1934-1944 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION LIBRARY Class H~ 455&:> Book ,USA3 \<;)43/++ c.o~. 4- GPO 16-7866 79th Congress, ~st Session House Dgcument No. 158 U, S, SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Central Office: 18th and Locust Streets, Philadelphia 3, Pa. + COMMISSIONERS GANSON PURCELL, Chairman ROBERT E. HEALY SUMNER T. PIKE ,ROBERT K.:McCONNAUGHEY Vacancy OR V AL~ L. -DuBoIS,: Secretary UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1945 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL SECHRITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, 'Philadelphia, 3"Pa., April 21, 1945. SIR: -I 'have the honor to transmit to vou the Tenth Annual Report of the Secu'rities and Exchange COillmi"ssion, in accordance with the provisions of Section 23 (b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, approved' Junp 6, 1934, Section 23 of the Public Utility Holding Company Act. of 193,5, approved August 26, 1935, Section 46 (a) of ,the Investment Company Ae.t of 1940, approved August 22, 1940, arid Section 216 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, approved August 22, 1940. - . 'In addition to reviewing the principal developments of the past fiscal year, ,the report includes a lO-year survey of the Commission's work. This survey sets forth the i'esults of the Commission's opera tions under the various' statutes committed to its charge. At the,end of a decade it seemed most desirable that the Commission should render to tl~e Congress suell an account of its activities. Because of space liplitations no attem'pt 'has been made to detail the entin,' dp velopment of practices and policies as reflected in our'order, rules, and regulations as they have become established and exist today. Since this course has been followed in the historical exposition contain('d in tl;w report, I think it only proper to point out that the survey is one of results and not one of step-by-step development. In, reading these pages one should bear in mind that they do not qescribe all of the difficulties which have been encountered or all of the problems which remain unsolved. Whilp I do not wish to minimize the importance 'of the results obtained during the 10 years of operation under these statu'tes, I should not like to give the impression that no mistakes have been ma'cie. Where they have been made, we have endeavored not to ~~ili~. Let me assure vou that the Commission'will continue to review' the ,steps ,already taken and, in dealing with new problems as they arise, , will 'exert every effort -to reach sound conclusions and results and perfect its administration of the tasks Congress has assigned to it. Respectfully, GANSON PURCELL, Chairman. THE' PRESIDENT OF THE SENA,TE, .THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, rYashington; D. O. m TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Foreword________________________________________________________ 1 PART I Administration of the Securities Act of 1933: Ena?tme~t and Scope of Act __________________________________ ~- 13 ReglstratlOn ___________________________________ .:_____ _________ 14 Volume of Registrations Under tile Securities Act___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 17 Exemptions __________ ' _______________________________ ~_________ 18 Private Placements___ _ _ __ __ __ _ __ _ __ __ __ _ _____ _____________ 19 Small Financing_ - _________________ -0- _____ '___ ~ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 20 Changes Made in Rules During Past Year________________________ 22 Enforcement and Compliance _____ '_ __ _ _ _ __ _ __ ____ _______ _____ __ _ 22 Procedure____________________________________________________ 29 Investigations of Oil and Gas Securities Transactions_ _ _ _ ______ _ __ _ 30 Advisory and Interpretative Assistance ___________________ , ______ ~~ 31 Proposals for Amendments to the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securi- ties Exchange Act of 1934 _____________________ .: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 32 P~RT II Administration of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934: Regulation of Exchanges and Exchange Trading __________________ _ , 33 Registration of Exchanges _______________ c _____________ ' ______ _ 33 Reorganization of Securities Exchanges______________________ _ 35 The Whitney 'Case and Brokers' Solvency ______ ~ _____________ _ 37 Margin Rcgulations ________________' _______________________ _ 40 Trading Rul~s R~confmended to the Exchanges ______________ _ 41 Short Selling ______ ' __________ • ____________________________ _ 42 Special Offering Plans _____ ' _________ ~ ______________________ _ 42 The "Multiple Trading Case" ___ ---------------------------- 44 Registration of Securities on Exchanges _________________________ _ 45 50 51 ~;~~?!~~~~-~~:~~~~~====================================~======Amendments of Registration and Ownership Forms and Rules_'_____ _ 54 Delisting of Securities From Na,.tional Secur~tJes Exchanges ________ _ 54 Securities Dclisted by Application ______ • __ '_~- ______________ _ 54 Securities Delisted by Cer,tification _________________________ _ 58 Unlisted Trading Privileges on Securities Exchanges ______________ _ 58' , On Registered Exchanges ______________ ~_,________ • _________ _ 58 On Exempted Exchanges _______ ~ _________________ '~ ________ _ 62 The Segregation Study _________________________________ :.. ______ _ 62 Stabilization and Manipulation _________________________________ _ 64 Over-the-Counter Regulation ___________________________ '_______ : 68- Original Statutory Provisions and Their Administration _______ _ 68 Broker~Dealer Registrations under Section' 15 (b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 __________________________________ _ 70 Section 15 (d) of the Securities Exchange AcL~ ______________ _ 70 Subsequent Regulation of Brokers and Dealers _______________ _ 71 Broker-Dealer Inspection Program __________________________ _ 72 Improper Use of Customers' Property _______________________ _ 73 Secret Profits ____________________________________________ _ 73 Transactions at Unreasonable Prices __________ =______ .: ______ _ 74 Litigation Arising Out of EnforcemenL _____________________ _ 75 Criminal Proceedings ______________________ '____ ~ __________ _ 76 The IVlaloney Act and the NASD_~ _________________________ _ 76 Commission Supervision of NASD Activity __________________ _ 79 The Proposed Capital Rule:.. ________________ ~ ___________ _ 80 The Mark-up Policies _________________________________ _ 80 The Sherman Gleason and Company Case _______________ ~ ___ _ 81 The "PSI" Case __________________________________________ _ 81 Enforcement of Section 10 (bLof the Act ___________ ~-----------,-- 82 v CONTENTS PART III , Page The Administration of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935: Necessity for Federal Regulation of Interstate Holding Company Sys- tems ________________________________________________ ~ _____ _ 83 Concentration of Control of Electric and Gas Utilities _________ _ 84 The, Need for Financial'Rehabilitation of Holding Company Systems _____________ c ____________________________ ~ ____ _ 85 Integration and Simplification of Holding, Company Systems_______ _ 87 The Carrying' out of Section 11 Orders:. ____ 0 _____' _______ .:-_' __ ~ 91 ,The Protection of Rights of Security Holders in Section 11 (e) Plans _______________________________________________ ~ __ _ 91 The "Deer> Rock" Principle _____· ___________ .: _______ ~," __ ~ ___ _ 94 Elimination of Inequitable Distribution of Voting Power _______ '_ 95 Beneficial Effects of Section II'upon Investors and Consumers __ 96 Status of Each of the M;ajor Holding Company Systems Under Section 1 L ________ '! _________ ~ ______________ .___________ _ 98 Regiilation of Security Issues ______ c ____________________________ _ 98 'Balan'ced Capital Structures ________________________ ~ _______ _ 99 Equity Financing __________________________ ~ ______________ _ 99 Elimination of Infllition in Property Accounts ________________ _ '100 __________ _ Depreciation Accruals and Depreciation Reserves __ c 100 Bond Indentures __________________________________________ _ 102 Preferred Stock Protective Provisions _______ .________________ _ 103 , S~curities Issued under the Holding Company Act ____________ _ 103 Competitive Bidding __________________________________________ _ '105 Progress in Scrvice Company Regulation _______________________' __ 107 Cooperation betwe.en. State, Commissions and the Securities an.d Exchange CommlsslOn _______________________________________ _ 111 Litigation under the Holding Company Act ______________' ________ _ '113 (a) Registration _________________________________ ,___ '______ _ 113 (b) Exemptions __________________________________________ _ 113 (c) Corporate Integration and Silllplification ___________ ' ______ _ '115 (d) Judicial Review Procedure _____________________________ _ 118 (e) Political Contributions _________________________________ _ 119 Appendix to Part IIL _________________________________________ _ 119 Status of Each of the Major Holding Companies under Scction lL 119 PART IV Participation of the Commission in Corporate Reorganizatio~s under Chapter X of, the Bankruptcy Act, as Amended: ' , Commission' Functions under Chapter X~ ____________ ~____________ 141 The Commission as a Party to the Proceedings____________________ 143 Problems in Administration of Estate_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 144 Problems Regarding Protective Committees and Indenture Trustees________________________________________________