Trade with PlusThe SEC has a three-fold mission: to protect investors; maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and facilitate capital formation.
To achieve its mandate, the SEC enforces the statutory requirement that public companies and other regulated companies submit quarterly and annual reports and other periodic reports. In addition to annual financial reports, company managers must provide a descriptive account, called a “management’s discussion and analysis” (MD&A), which describes the previous year of operations and explains how the company fared during that time. The MD&A usually also discusses the coming year and outlines future goals and approaches to new projects. In an effort to level the playing field for all investors, the SEC maintains an online database called EDGAR (Electronic Data Collection, Analysis, and Retrieval System) from which investors can access this and other information on file with the agency.
