Which U.S. law created the Securities and Exchange Commission after the 1929 stock-market crash?

The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 created the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after the 1929 stock-market crash.

The act was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 6, 1934. It established the SEC as an independent federal agency responsible for administering and enforcing major federal securities laws. Joseph P. Kennedy became the commission’s first chairman.

The law focused on secondary-market trading, broker-dealers, exchanges, and corporate disclosures. It required companies with publicly traded securities to provide regular information and prohibited practices such as market manipulation and certain forms of insider trading. It also gave the SEC authority over national securities exchanges.

The Securities Act of 1933 is a frequent source of confusion. That earlier law addressed the initial public offering of securities, while the 1934 act centered on trading after issuance and created the SEC. Together, the statutes formed a foundation of modern U.S. securities regulation in response to abuses exposed by the crash.