Which U.S. stock-market crash prompted Congress to create the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1934?

The Wall Street Crash of 1929 helped prompt Congress to create the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1934.

The crash exposed weaknesses in U.S. securities markets, including misleading financial information, speculative practices, and limited federal oversight. In response, Congress passed the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The latter created the SEC, which began regulating securities markets and enforcing disclosure rules.

The SEC was not created immediately after the crash, and the agency was one part of a broader New Deal response to the Great Depression. Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Joseph P. Kennedy as its first chairman. The crash itself involved several disastrous trading days in October 1929, but the broader economic depression continued for years afterward.