Which US government agency regulates the stock market?

The U.S. government agency that regulates the stock market is the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Congress created the SEC on June 6, 1934, after the 1929 Wall Street crash and the financial abuses exposed during the Great Depression. Its legal foundation is the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which governs secondary-market trading, securities exchanges, brokers, and dealers.

The SEC’s mission is broader than simply watching stock prices. It requires public companies to disclose important financial information, investigates fraud and insider trading, oversees exchanges and self-regulatory organizations such as FINRA, and works to protect investors while supporting fair, orderly markets. The SEC does not guarantee that an investment will make money or approve a company as a good investment.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulates futures and many derivatives, while the Federal Reserve focuses mainly on monetary policy and banking. FINRA is an industry self-regulatory organization operating under SEC oversight, not the primary federal stock-market regulator.