26th Annual Report of the Securities and Exchange II Commission Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1960 UNITED:STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON: 1960 For sale by ~he Superinrenden~ of Docwnenta, U.S. Governmen~ Printing Omce Waahing~n 25, D.C. - Price $1 (paper coyer) SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Headquarters Office 425 Second Street NW. Washington 25, D.C. COMMISSIONERS January 3,1961 EDWARD N. GADSBY, Chairman HAROLD C. PATTERSON 1 EARL F. HASTINGS BYRON D. WOODSIDE DANIEL J. MCCAULY, JR, ORVAL L. DuBoIS, Secretary I Deceased November 29, 1930. n LETTER OF TRANSMITIAL SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, W fMhington, D.O., JanlUJ,7"!f3, 1961. Sm: On behalf of the Securities and Exchange Commission, I have the honor to transmit to you the Twenty-Sixth Annual Report of the Commission covering the fiscal year July 1, 1959, to June 30,1960, in accordance with the provisions of Section 23(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, approved June 6, 1934; Section 23 of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, approved August 26, 1935; Section 46(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, ap- proved August 22, 1940; Section 216 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, approved August 22, 1940; and Section 3 of the act of June 29, 1949, amending the Bretton Woods Agreement Act; and Section 11(b) of the Inter-American Development Bank Act. Respectfully, EDWARD N. GADSBY, Ohairman. THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE, THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D.O. ill Harold C. Patterson 1897-1960 Harold C. Patterson was serving his second term as a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission at the time of his death on November 29, 1960. He brought to his high officesin the public service a broad experience and a vast fund of knowledge of the Nation's financial community. Able, forthright and just, he was ever devoted to the objectives for which the Commission was created by the Congress. These qualities made him a stalwart ad vocate of the cause of investor protection. His trenchant analysis of the many problems confronting the Com- mission and the wisdom which characterized his decisions earned the admiration and respect of its members, the staff and the public. His counsel will be sorely missed by those who must continue, as we know he would have desired, with the tasks that lie ahead. To each of us who had the good fortune to know him his passing leaves a deep personal void as well. Ever a staunch friend, he shared generously of his time, his talents, and his experience. We here record our profound sorrow at his passing and our deep sympathy for the members of his bereaved family. Edward N. Gadsby Earl F. Hastings Byron D. Woodside Daniel J. McCauley, Jr. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Foreword_________________________________________________________ XI Present Commission and staff offioers.. _______________________________ XII Regional and branch offices; ________________________________________ XIII Biographies of commissioners., _ _ _ ______ __ _ xv PART I CURRENT PROBLEMS BEFORE THE COMMISSION____________ 1 Fraudulent sale of seeuritdes., _ _ ______ _ _________ _____ __ 2 Registration of securities , _ _____________________________________ 2 Su pervision of broker-dealer firms __ _ ____________________________ 3 Real estate securities..c , ; __ _ _____ _____ _____ ___ 4 Combination insurance and investment contracts__________________ 5 Variable annuity contracts.L, , _ ______________________________ 5 Investment company size study and investigation 6 Investment advisers , __ _ __ ________ 7 PART II LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES_____ __ __ 9 Statutorv amendments proposed by the Commission_______________ 9 Other legislative proposals, __ _ _ ______ 11 Congressional hearings , ________________________________________ 11 PART III REVISION OF RULES, REGULATIONS AND FORMS____________ 15 The Securities Act of 1933_ _____________________________________ 15 Amendment of Rule 133____________________________________ 15 Adoption of Rule 136; Amendment of Rule 140_______________ 16 Proposed Rule 155_________________________________________ 16 Rescission of Regulation A-M_______________________________ 17 Amendment of Regulation A________________________________ 17 Rescission of Regulation B- T _______________________________ 18 Adoption of Regulation F _ _ _ _______________________________ 18 Amendment to Form 8-9___________________________________ 18 Adoption of Form 8-14_ _ ____ __ _________ 19 The Securities Exchange Act of 1934_____________________________ 19 Amendment of Rules 16b-2 and 16c-2_______________________ 19 Amendment of Rule 16b-3__________________________________ 20 Amendment of Rule 16b-8__________________________________ 21 Proposed Rule 19a2-L_____________________________________ 21 Amendment of Form 8-K_ _ __ _____ __ __ 22 Amendment of Form 9-K_ _ _ _ _____ ___ ___ _ 23 v VI TABLE OF CONTENTS REVISION OF RULES, REGULATIONS AND FORMS-Continued Page The Public "Gtility Holding Company Act of 1935 __ _______________ 23 Rescission of Rule 9 _ __ ____________________________________ 23 Modification of Rule 28____________________________________ 23 Interpretation of Rule 50___________________________________ 24 Withdrawal of proposed revision of Rule 70_____________ _____ _ 24 The Investment Company Act of 1940___________________________ 25 Adoption of Rule 3c-2_____________________________________ 25 Adoption of Rule 14a-L___________________________________ 25 Amendment of Rule 20a-l; adoption of Rules 20a-2 and 20a-3__ 26 Adoption of Annual Report Form N-5R______________________ 28 PART IV ADMINISTRATION OF THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933________ 29 Description of the registration process____ ___________ ___ ___ 29 Registration statement and prospeetus_______________________ 29 Examination proeedure.L;., _______________________ ___ 30 Time required to eomplete registration_______________________ 30 Volume of securities registered.. __________________ ___ 32 Registration statements filed, __________ ____ __________ __ _ 35 Stop order proceedings; ________________________________________ 36 Examinations and investigations_____ ___________________ ______ 45 Exemption from registration of small issues..; _____________________ 46 Exempt offerings under Regulation A_ ________ __ __ 46 Suspension of exemption_____ __________________ ______ _______ 47 Exempt offerings under Regulation B________________________ 54 Exempt offerings under Regulation F _ _ __ __ 55 Litigation under the Securities Act of 1933________________________ 56 Subpoena enforcement action under Securities Act of 1933______ 62 Suits against the Commission , __ ________________________________ 63 PART V ADMINISTRATION OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934___________________________________________________________ 65 Regulation of exchanges and exchange trading____________________ 65 Registration and exemption of exchanges_____________________ 65 Disciplinary actiona.c., , _______________________ _____________ 65 Registration of securities on exchanges , ________ _______ __ _________ 66 Statistics relating to registration of securities on exchangea.Lc .., 67 Market value of securities traded on exchanges____________________ 68 Fiscal year share values and volumes_________________________ 69 Foreign stock on exchanges_________________________________ 69 Comparative exchange statistica.; ___________________________ 70 Comparative over-the-counter atatistics , _ _ 71 Delisting of securities from exchanges____________________________ 72 Delisting proceedings under section 19(a)_____________________ 74 Unlisted trading privileges on exchanges__________________________ 79 Applications for unlisted trading privileges____________________ 80 Block distributions reported by exchanges________________________ 81 Manipulation and stabilization , , ___ __ __ _ _ 82 Manipulation_____________________________________________ 82 Stabilization ______________________________________________ 84 TABLE OF CONTENTS VII ADMINISTRATION OF THE SECURITIES EXCHAXGE ACT OF 1934-Continued PUll Insiders' security holdings and transactions _______________________ 84 Ownership reports; _______________________ ______________ 84 Recovery of short swing trading profits by issuer ______________ 86 Regulation of proxies _ _ _ ____________________________ ___________ 86 Scope of proxy regulation___________________________________ 86 Statistics relating to proxy statements________________________ 87 Stockholders' proposals.L; , _________________________________ 87 Ratio of soliciting to non-SOliciting companies_________________ 88 Proxy contests____________________________________________ 88 Regulation of broker-dealers and over-the-counter markets__________ 89 Registration __ ____________________________________________ 89 Administrative prooeediugs , ________________________________ 89 Revocation proceedings , _ _______________________________ 92 Denial proceedings_____ ____________________________________ 106 Suspension proceedingsc., , _____ ___ _ _____ __ 107 Other sanctions _ __ ________________________________________ 109 Net capital rule , 113 Financial statements.. , _____________________________________ 113 Broker-dealer inspections; __________________________________ 114 Supervision of activities of National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc________________________________________________________ 116 NASD drsciplinary actions__________________________________ 117 Commission review of NASD disciplinary action_______________ 119 Commission review of NASD action on membership___________